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

three days later.

In the press conference hall of the Jiangzhou Defense Administration, the flashing lights created a silvery sea.

The newly appointed spokesperson stood on the podium, solemnly reading aloud a five-page report: "Following a joint investigation by the Jiangzhou Defense Bureau's Internal Investigation Department and the Provincial Department, Wang Hai, the former head of the Economic Crime Investigation Branch, is suspected of long-term abuse of his position to assist Cao Kun, the actual controller of 'Xie Rong Trading Company,' in illegally opening anonymous bank safe deposit boxes under the guise of evidence management, providing money laundering channels for multiple cross-border criminal gangs. The verified amount involved currently exceeds 1.2 billion yuan!"

"All 37 suspects, including Wang Hai and Cao Kun, have been apprehended, and the case is under further investigation."

"Furthermore, upon review, it has been determined that the 'drunk drowning case' of Zhang Wei, a former auxiliary police officer of the Chengnan Branch four years ago, was actually a homicide. Comrade Zhang Wei discovered crucial criminal clues while inventorying evidence and was subsequently silenced by the criminals in retaliation. The Municipal Public Security Bureau has applied to the Provincial Public Security Department to posthumously award Comrade Zhang Wei the honorary title of 'Death in the Line of Duty'..."

Hidden Culture Media Studio, 68th Floor, Shanghai World Financial Center.

Xu Zhengyang stood upright in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, his hands tightly gripping the copy of the official document that had just been delivered by a special person from the municipal government.

The paper was slightly wrinkled by his immense strength, and the shoulders of this tough man, who had never shed a tear in the midst of gunfire, trembled violently.

Large, hot tears fell onto the document, blurring the four bold characters "died in the line of duty".

"Zhang Wei... your master has avenged you." Xu Zhengyang raised his head and let out a suppressed cry of grief.

Meanwhile, Shen Feng, sitting in the boss's chair, was happily looking at the payment notification on his phone.

"Ding—Jiangzhou Commercial Bank: RMB 50,000.00 has been transferred to your personal account. Remitter: Finance Department of Jiangzhou Defense Bureau (whistleblower reward)."

"This money is earned so cleanly and legally," Shen Feng said, picking up his thermos and letting out a comfortable sigh.

Just then, the office door was pushed open, and Su Qing, dressed in a crisp uniform, walked in. She was carrying a red banner with gold lettering, and two police officers were following behind her, responsible for taking photos for publicity.

"Mr. Shen, congratulations." Su Qing's gaze was extremely complicated, and he forced an official smile onto his delicate face.

Shen Feng stood up, straightened his bespoke suit, strode forward, and accepted the banner that read "Helpful Citizen, Keen Eyes to Spot the Devious" with both hands.

"Click! Click!" The flash went off, capturing this incredibly "harmonious" scene of police and civilians being one family.

However, in the intermittent flashes of light, Su Qing, under the guise of handing over the banner, leaned forward slightly and, in a low, clenched voice that only the two of them could hear, questioned through gritted teeth, "What exactly do you want?"

Shen Feng's brows twitched slightly, and his aura of authority silently dissipated at such close range, causing Su Qing to catch her breath.

"I don't understand what Captain Su is saying." Shen Feng smiled gently, but his eyes were so dark they seemed to devour light. "I'm just a law-abiding citizen who stumbled upon a clue and actively reported it to the authorities. Is there anything wrong with taking this 50,000 yuan tax-free reward?"

Su Qing couldn't help but gasp.

Fifty thousand yuan?!

This man, who could casually take 12 million yuan in consulting fees from Jiangzhou's richest man, this mastermind who used the privileges of a UBS black card to destroy a 1.2 billion yuan money laundering network with a single email, actually claims he did it all for a mere 50,000 yuan reward for reporting a crime?!

He's being sarcastic! This is absolutely the ultimate form of sarcasm!

Su Qing felt a chill run down her spine. Looking at Shen Feng's flawless smiling face, her fear grew wildly like weeds.

He used the most legal rules to completely outmaneuver the National Defense Agency, and in the end, the National Defense Agency had to give him the "good citizen" protection with great fanfare!

This kind of person is clearly a god who walks above the rules!

"Mr. Shen...impressive." Su Qing took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and turned to leave quickly with the police officers.

Watching Su Qing's hurried departure, Shen Feng rolled his eyes inwardly: "Does this woman have paranoia? Fifty thousand yuan isn't money? That's pure profit!"

After the defense officials left, the office door was closed again.

Xu Zhengyang turned around and carefully put the official document away from his body.

Then, he walked to Shen Feng's large desk and, without any warning, his right leg bent heavily.

"thump!"

Xu Zhengyang knelt heavily on one knee on the expensive carpet, his back ramrod straight, his eyes filled with fervor and devotion: "President Shen, I am deeply grateful. From this day forward, my life belongs to you. I request to officially join the studio, with a monthly salary... only one yuan."

"Stop!" Shen Feng was startled and quickly went around the table and grabbed him.

Are you kidding me? A monthly salary of one yuan? If the labor inspection team finds out, what will become of my image as a law-abiding boss?

"Xu Zhengyang, let me reiterate, we are a legally registered cultural media company, we don't do that kind of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the martial arts world) brotherhood thing." Shen Feng said sternly and righteously, "I don't lack money to pay your salary, and I don't need people kneeling before me. Your monthly salary is 50,000, and you'll be paid the highest level of social insurance and housing fund contributions."

Xu Zhengyang was stunned, and his eyes reddened again.

"However, this money isn't free." Shen Feng patted him on the shoulder and pointed to Xiao Yu's server room next door. "Xiao Yu's skills are top-notch, but he's ignorant of the law and has no bottom line. I want you to be the studio's chief risk control officer, responsible for building an information risk prevention and control system. Every line of code he types and every piece of data he checks must be reviewed for legality by you. If he crosses any legal red lines, shut him down immediately."

Shen Feng's original intention was simple: with Xu Zhengyang, a veteran criminal police officer who had worked for more than ten years, watching over Xiao Yu, there was absolutely no way Xiao Yu would do something as suicidal as hacking into the National Security Bureau, and he would be completely safe.

But to Xu Zhengyang, these words were like a morning bell and an evening drum, a wake-up call!

What you mean, sir, is... to use an absolutely "legal" guise to cover up the deepest "secrets"! What brilliant strategic vision!

"I understand! Please rest assured, sir, I will never allow anyone to find any fault with us!" Xu Zhengyang stood at attention and saluted, his eyes burning with a flame of unwavering loyalty.

Meanwhile, inside the Defense Agency's monitoring and command vehicle in the underground parking garage downstairs.

Su Qing wore listening headphones and listened to the conversation coming from the ventilation duct, her fingers trembling slightly.

She typed the last line on a top-secret document titled "Organizational Structure Analysis of Target S-01":

The target has successfully recruited former veteran detective Xu Zhengyang. His core team is now largely complete: a top-tier private military contractor (Grizzly/Jackal) with expertise in physical demolition and hand-to-hand combat; a top-tier hacker (Xiaoyu) with control over network backdoors; and a risk control strategist (Xu Zhengyang) with mastery of police counter-investigation methods and legal loopholes. The final piece of Mr. Xu's criminal empire has been completed.

……

At 8 p.m. that evening, the official account of "Hidden Culture Media Studio," which had been eagerly awaited by 80 million fans across the internet, suddenly updated with a new post.

There was no video, only a visually striking poster.

The poster's background is a night view of Jiangzhou's bustling central business district. In the center of the image, on the rooftop of a skyscraper, stands the blurred silhouette of a girl in a white dress. One of her feet is dangling over the edge of the building.

Below the poster, there is only a short, breathtaking sentence:

When a million fans in the live stream shouted "Jump!", she actually jumped.

[Tomorrow night at 8 PM, Shen Feng, author of *Falling Snow Villa*, will tell you a new story: *Live Stream, Fall from Building, Internet Celebrity*. Stay tuned.]

The moment this trailer was released, the entire internet exploded.

In less than ten minutes, the hashtag #GrandmasterNewTrailer# jumped to the top of Weibo's trending topics!

"Holy crap! The mastermind has stopped making locked-room murder mysteries and started making realistic ones?!"

"This poster is giving me the creeps. Cyberbullying? Live-streamed suicide? Isn't this just naming names?!"

"Quickly tag all the major live streaming platforms! The Grandmaster has dealt the cards! Which unlucky soul is going to be physically exorcised this time?!"

Half an hour later, Shen Feng's personal cell phone, which was on the table, started vibrating wildly.

Caller ID: Mr. Wang, CEO of Tomato Live Streaming Platform.

Shen Feng pressed the answer button, but before he could speak, a panicked voice, trembling with tears, came from the other end of the line: "Mr. Shen! Please have mercy! The internet celebrity you're going to talk about falling to her death tomorrow night... is she one of our platform's streamers? If you reveal any inside information, our platform will face delisting!"

"President Wang, please calm down." Shen Feng picked up his thermos. "I'm just a novelist. Tomorrow night's story is merely a fictional tale exploring human nature. Any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental..."

"It's all fiction! I understand! I understand!" Mr. Wang wiped away cold sweat, his voice trembling. "Then what kind of promotional placement do you need? Tomorrow night, our platform will give you the highest level of special traffic push across the entire site, just please... have mercy!"