I was just telling a story, why is the whole internet urging me to turn myself in?

"drop--"

Room 2801, Yunding Yipin, Jiangzhou.

Shen Feng ripped off his million-dollar microphone headphones, looked at the still-scrolling live stream comments behind the black screen, and rubbed his temples in exasperation.

"A heroic act? The authorities get involved and arrest people?" Shen Feng picked up the iced cola on the table, took a big gulp, and burped. "These netizens will really post anything to generate buzz these days. They even want me to collect a banner? That's ridiculous. I'm just telling a story about 'The Hidden Corner,' and I'm supposed to take down a powerful family in Jiangzhou?"

Shen Feng assumed that his viewers were just playing along with his antics and didn't take it to heart at all.

He casually brought up the system panel, and after just one glance, he almost spat out the cola he was drinking onto the screen.

Current popularity score: 3,452,100 points

"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands... three million?!" Shen Feng gasped.

Just over an hour ago, when the show started, his popularity rating was only a little over one million.

Unexpectedly, the climax of the script, "drowning during a drug change," caused the popularity to skyrocket exponentially.

"Tsk, it seems that adding suspenseful plot twists and a touch of tragic family drama is the ultimate way to grab viewership wherever you go." Shen Feng stroked his chin with satisfaction.

[Ding! Host has sufficient popularity points. Do you wish to access the intermediate system shop for redemption?]

The crisp notification sound in his mind instantly energized Shen Feng.

"Since we're already here, we might as well spend some money." He rubbed his hands together excitedly and brought up the in-game store panel.

Last night, after subduing the "petty thief" who broke into his home and attempted assassination with melee weapons with his bare hands, and with the subtle probing of policewoman Su Qing, Shen Feng belatedly realized...

It turns out that being a top-tier livestreamer in this world is also a high-risk profession.

Sure enough, after only two days of gaining popularity, she attracted the attention of those "fervent haters" who carry military daggers and have antisocial tendencies!

"Sure enough, a tall tree catches the wind and easily attracts mentally ill people. We must develop more means of self-defense and protection."

With this simple wish to "prevent extreme fans", Shen Feng's eyes quickly swept across the dazzling array of intermediate-level stores, finally locking onto an eyeball icon that emitted a quiet blue light.

【Eye of Truth (Active/Passive Skill)】: Price: 100 million popularity points.

[Skill Description: Absolute Insight Skill. Once activated, the host can see through any target's core desires, extreme fears, and fatal weaknesses for a short period of time; when the target is in a state of extreme emotional fluctuation, all psychological defenses can be ignored, and their subconscious intentions can be directly read.]

Shen Feng's eyes lit up.

This is simply an amazing technology for preventing disguise and sneak attacks!

With this thing, if any weird hater dares to pretend to be a plumber or a deliveryman and get close to me again, I can see through their true colors at a glance!

"One million it is! Money can be spent and then come back again. This is it!"

Without hesitation, Shen Feng pressed the exchange button with his mind.

As a cool energy surged from between his brows into his eyes, Shen Feng blinked, and the world before him seemed to instantly gain more depth.

"Gurgle..."

Just as Shen Feng was preparing to test his new skill, his stomach started growling uncontrollably.

"Let's go downstairs for a late-night snack." Shen Feng changed into casual clothes and pushed open the door to go out.

Meanwhile, in room 2802 across the hall, the atmosphere was oppressive and suffocating.

Su Qing leaned against the table with the listening equipment, holding a cup of coffee that had long since gone cold, her eyes bloodshot.

Half an hour ago, the special task force raided an underground internet cafe in an urban village but found nothing—the three delinquent teenagers had slipped away like eels.

Li Donghai, who should have been on the run, seemed to have vanished into thin air, and the surveillance cameras along the way completely lost track of him.

A stalemate! A complete deadlock!

Su Qing knew very well that Li Donghai had been driven to a dead end, and he would definitely do whatever it took tonight to arrange a deal with those three children and then kill them to silence them.

In the vast city of Jiangzhou, finding these four people in just a few hours is like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Captain Su, the lead has gone cold..." the officer next to him whispered.

Su Qing took a deep breath and stared intently at the screen on the wall—it was the surveillance footage of the corridor in room 2801.

"Only one person can break this deadlock," Su Qing murmured to herself.

She knew that her next actions were a serious violation of the investigation procedures, but faced with the imminent loss of three lives, she had no choice.

The man codenamed "Mr" is omniscient and omnipotent, even knowing the most confidential details like drowning during a dressing change. He must know what Li Donghai will do next!

Upon seeing Shen Feng walk out of the door in the surveillance footage, Su Qing immediately took off her police vest, put on an ordinary black trench coat, grabbed her keys, and rushed out.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a slender hand pressed down on the sensor door.

"What a coincidence, Mr. Shen." Su Qing stepped into the elevator and casually tidied her hair, but her tightly clenched fingers betrayed her inner tension.

Shen Feng turned his head and glanced at his pretty female neighbor. The image of her pretending to be a fruit basket last night automatically flashed into his mind.

"It's quite a coincidence, Captain Su, you just got off work?" Shen Feng glanced at her with a half-smile.

Su Qing's heart skipped a beat, and she decided to stop hiding her feelings: "Mr. Shen, tonight's live stream was very exciting, and I haven't had any late-night snacks either. Since we're meeting by chance, how about I treat you to hot pot? It's at that Lao Shu Kan restaurant downstairs, as a way of thanking you for helping to clear up the security risks in the neighborhood last night."

Eliminate hidden dangers? Oh, you mean that unlucky guy with the bayonet?

Shen Feng rubbed his stomach: "Someone's treating? That's great, let's go."

It was 11 p.m. at Lao Shu Kan Hot Pot Restaurant, inside a private room.

The bubbling broth in the hot pot was steaming and bubbling with red bubbles.

Shen Feng picked up a piece of premium tripe and tossed it up and down in the pot, his movements as practiced as a seasoned gourmand immersed in the everyday life of the city.

Across from him, Su Qing didn't touch a single bite of food, her gaze fixed on Shen Feng's relaxed and unguarded face.

The more this happened, the more terrified Su Qing felt.

This man had just orchestrated the course of a high-society assassination online, yet he could sit here calmly eating tripe. His composure was beyond terrifying.

"Mr. Shen," Su Qing finally couldn't hold back any longer, placing her hands on the table in an attempt to steer the conversation back on track, "Your 'The Hidden Corner' is indeed very well written, especially the character Zhang Dongsheng. Now that his wife is dead, he's been completely pushed to the edge of a cliff."

Shen Feng stuffed the tripe into his mouth, chewing it with a crunchy sound, and replied indistinctly, "Yeah, when people are pushed to the limit, they'll do anything."

"Those three children who hold the decisive evidence have now become his only thorn in his side." Su Qing leaned forward slightly, staring intently into Shen Feng's eyes. "If you were the creator, how do you think Zhang Dongsheng would deal with those three children next?"

Upon hearing this question, Shen Feng paused slightly in his chopsticks.

Is he discussing the plot?

Shen Feng's eyes narrowed slightly involuntarily, and a faint, almost imperceptible, dark blue light flashed deep within his pupils.

The Eye of Truth is now activated!

The next second, Shen Feng's view changed.

Above Su Qing's head and beneath his eyes, several lines of scarlet writing appeared, visible only to him:

[Current status: Heart rate spikes to 130 beats per minute, teetering on the edge of extreme anxiety and despair.]

[Core Obsession: An urgent desire to know the final meeting place between Zhang Dongsheng and the three children "in reality"! To save lives on the verge of death!]

[Deepest Emotion: A profound fear of the host before them, believing the host to be a god controlling everything.]

Shen Feng: ? ? ?

Shen Feng almost burst out laughing.

This policewoman is way too into character! Not only is she projecting a villain from a novel into a real-life case, but she's also gotten so anxious her heart rate spiked to 130? Does she think I'm some kind of all-powerful god?

It seems that the [Master of Crime Aura] that my passive skill has stacked up is a bit too powerful.

"Alright, since you're so curious about how the plot will unfold, I'll give you a spoiler."

Shen Feng put down his chopsticks, took a tissue, and elegantly wiped the corner of his mouth.

However, in Su Qing's view, his originally casual movements were instantly covered with a suffocating sense of composure.

The atmosphere in the private room suddenly plummeted to freezing point at that moment.

Shen Feng crossed his arms, elbows resting on the table, his deep gaze piercing through the rising steam, directly into Su Qing's eyes:

"Where is Zhang Dongsheng going to get that 300,000 yuan? He's broke. But he'll definitely pretend to agree to give it to them to keep those three kids in check."

"The transaction needs a safe place. These three kids are cunning and won't go to unfamiliar places, so Zhang Dongsheng has to choose a place that they are familiar with, feel safe in, but is also secluded enough to easily dispose of the body."

Shen Feng smiled slightly and gave his final answer: "For example... a remote, abandoned processing plant, where there's a ready-made enclosed space. Setting up a trap there would be perfect."

An abandoned processing plant?!

These five words struck Su Qing like a thunderclap from a clear sky!

Remote, familiar to children, abandoned processing plant!

Countless chaotic clues collided wildly in Su Qing's mind, and in a flash, a place name jumped out of the water.

An abandoned seafood processing plant in the eastern suburbs of Jiangzhou!

Yesterday afternoon, when the special task force investigated the background of the three delinquent teenagers, it was clearly recorded that they had worked illegally for three months at this seafood processing plant in the eastern suburbs six months ago!

There was a large cold storage facility there, secluded and deserted, perfectly meeting all the prerequisites for a transaction and a murder!

"Was he giving me a final death notice, or was he deliberately testing the police's ability to act?!"

Su Qing looked at Shen Feng, who had a half-smile on his face, and goosebumps rose uncontrollably all over her body.

She dared not think any further.

"Bang!"

Su Qing suddenly stood up, and because she stood up so quickly, the chair behind her was even knocked over.

"Captain Su? Are you alright? It's just a spoiler, there's no need to get so worked up." Shen Feng blinked, looking completely innocent.

"I...I'm going to the restroom, excuse me!" Su Qing didn't even dare to look at Shen Feng again. She turned around, stumbled, opened the door to the private room, and practically rushed out.

Running into the restroom, Su Qing locked the stall door, her hands trembling as she pulled out her encrypted cell phone and dialed Zhou Weiguo, the director of the municipal bureau.

"Su Qing? What discovery?!" The person on the other end of the phone was equally frantic.

"The abandoned seafood processing plant in the eastern suburbs! Immediately mobilize all special police officers there! Li Donghai and those three children must be there!" Su Qing gritted her teeth, her voice trembling without her even realizing it. "Hurry! It'll be too late if we wait any longer!"

Meanwhile, inside the private room...

Shen Feng scooped a piece of translucent duck intestine from the bubbling red oil and happily dipped it in minced garlic and sesame oil.

"These days, policewomen can't handle pressure. They get so scared just listening to the climax of a novel..." Shen Feng shook his head. "Never mind, while she's not around, I'll eat a couple more pieces of tripe."