Chapter 366: The Knight Order's Counterattack

Instead of immediately accepting, Duan Fei turned to observe his surroundings.

Just a moment ago, he had been in a meeting with his team in their office, but the next second, he was here.

The place he was in now seemed to be floating in a void of darkness. In front of him was only a table and a grinning antique dealer; there was nothing else.

After a moment of contemplation, Duan Fei looked at the antique dealer and asked, “What’s in it?”

“It could be anything. For example, a monkey’s paw that grants any wish, but never with ideal results. A mysterious statue from the deep sea that will make your employees more obedient and tireless, though they’ll move slower and reek of rotten fish. A certain mystical fungus that will turn your employees into indefatigable hosts, at the cost of them becoming exceptionally crazed.”

“Those all sound pretty negative.”

“Whether they’re negative or not is for the manager to decide. As long as you ignore the little problems, everything in here is a treasure. Probably.”

“You don’t even know what’s inside, and you’re just giving it to me?”

“I don’t sell antiques; I’m just a deliveryman for them. Now, are you going to take it or not?”

Looking at the antique dealer, Duan Fei noticed his cunning grin. The four eyes on his face were filled with the malicious glee of someone waiting for a disaster to happen.

‘Heh. A real troll.’

But Duan Fei had no intention of arguing. He simply opened the briefcase and found it filled with small, potted sunflowers—hundreds of them, it seemed.

Upon seeing the contents of the case, the monstrous antique dealer in front of him looked visibly disappointed.

His shoulders slumped as he stared helplessly at the case’s contents. “So it was this stuff.”

Realizing there would be no entertainment for him here, he waved his hand, and the surrounding space returned to normal. Duan Fei found himself back in his office, the case full of sunflowers by his side.

“Sunshine Sunflower: Uncontaminated, Purple, Cannot be taken out. Description: A type of antique. One can be placed in front of each employee. It slowly releases the power of sunlight, making employees less susceptible to fatigue. Every employee who comes into contact with it will be drawn to it, developing an urge to stay with it forever. As long as you don’t allow them to take it away, employees will voluntarily stay to work overtime—and high-quality overtime, at that.”

An employee at full pay provides 0.2 basic action points for an eight-hour day.

However, if they choose to work overtime, that becomes 0.3 basic action points. All told, that would come out to 30 basic action points a day.

Excellent. Full of Spirit!

‘Your diligence creates more surplus value for you to give, which gives us more action points to exploit others, thereby granting us more opportunities for exploitation.’

Satisfied, Duan Fei set out with the sunflowers, placing one on each employee’s desk. When he returned, he saw that the others were back as well.

The Maid had brought back a batch of motorcycles, Jinghong had found a wealthy widow, and the Lone Ranger had successfully located the black market and earned their trust.

On this day, everything was running smoothly.

They had also sold a good number of Magic Stickers; the net profit from them today had already risen to 100,000.

Moreover, the product was as good as hard currency. Theirs was the only company with the technology, and customer retention after conversion was extremely high.

As long as they could survive the initial phase, there would be no problems.

And Duan Fei had already used his “great method of firing people” to rake in a pile of cash for that initial phase. Now, it was just a matter of sitting back and collecting the profits.

Satisfied, he brought the day to a close.

「Time flew by, transitioning to the third day.」

After sending the Lone Ranger and the others out on disruption missions and having Jinghong gather intelligence, Duan Fei was just about to read the financial reports when he heard a call from the front desk. “Mr. Duan, there’s someone here to see you.”

Puzzled, Duan Fei went downstairs and found a pale young man at the entrance.

He handed over a token and said, “I am a messenger from the black market. I have come at my master’s command to deliver his message.”

Duan Fei looked at the messenger, then turned to glance at the empty street before saying wearily, “How many writers does this instance have? Can’t you guys at least unify the dialogue style?”

Somewhere, a certain Great Mage who was watching the scene unfold blushed.

Stopping his commentary, Duan Fei looked at the messenger and asked, “So, what’s this about?”

“My master says, ‘Oh, allies in darkness, your enemies have begun to move. They have brought superior, delectable wares, and our own goods have been defeated. My master requests an alliance, hoping you can provide us with something better.'”

It took Duan Fei a moment to process what he meant.

Fighting the urge to mock the cringey Great Mage, Duan Fei asked, “So the Knight Order has started distributing their product? How are they doing it?”

“They’ve bribed a bunch of street urchins. Filthy, base performances are happening in every alley. Each thug just has to open his coat to show off a whole stash of stickers. They’re more disgusting than the filthiest sewer rats.”

“Alright, I get it. Take me there so I can see for myself.”

“Yes. It is my honor to guide you. My humble self shall be of great assistance to you. I shall…”

“Please, for the love of God, just talk normally.”

“…I forgot how.”

“Then just pretend you’re a mute.”

When Duan Fei wheeled out one of the motorcycles the Maid had brought back, he saw the messenger’s eyes light up.

The heavy motorcycle looked incredibly cool. It was covered in their company’s Magic Stickers, allowing it to race through the city without needing fuel.

Its massive frame was impossible to handle without twenty points in Power, and its roar upon starting could be heard three streets away.

It was a good thing this was a virtual instance; otherwise, Duan Fei was certain that if he dared to take this thing onto the streets, his neighbors would open fire.

Letting the messenger get on, Duan Fei gunned the motorcycle and tore off like a bolt of lightning, heading for the destination according to the messenger’s directions.

Upon arriving, Duan Fei saw that their destination was an abandoned building.

The half-finished high-rise had been derelict for years, long since becoming a gathering spot for local thugs.

All over the building, sprayed-on fluorescent paint shifted and moved like something out of a movie, accompanied by the sound of music.

A dashing Lancelot and a captivating Ah Fu were showing off their dance moves. Their idol-level skills, combined with the dynamic music, made the place as lively as a concert.

A crowd of thugs had already become their die-hard fans. When the few-minute performance ended and the two shouted in unison, “Use a Magic Sticker!” the atmosphere reached a fever pitch.

‘Is advertising this cutthroat now?’

The fluorescent-paint ad was still playing on a loop while the people below were already lost in the euphoria of the Magic Sticker.

The essence of the Magic Sticker was to create an excess of Magic Power in the body, giving the user a sensation of being drunk. Overuse could cause problems with the body’s Magic Power circuits, making it something akin to a cigarette.

In the outside world, there were all sorts of laws to restrict the Magic Sticker, but here, where it had yet to appear, related regulations were nonexistent.

The Knight Order’s counterattack had finally begun.