Chapter 256

Wu Chang entered the conference room, and his first words instantly energized every journalist present.

"Good evening, everyone. Mr. Schultz is fully immersed in his research and has no time to oversee the company's development, so he has entrusted me to manage it. Starting today, I am the new chairman of Song Company."

He paused briefly, then continued: "My name is Xiao En, Xiao En Brown."

The journalists sent to cover this press conference had basic knowledge of Song Company; many were already aware of Xiao En—a notorious slacker who lived off others' labor.

The news of Xiao En assuming the chairmanship was as explosive as Schultz's retirement.

Wu Chang cleared his throat, raised a hand to signal the journalists to calm down, then said:

"Next, I will announce three matters. The remainder will be handled by our PR department staff."

"First, my appointment will not alter any rules established by Schultz—whether it's Song Company's operational philosophy, internal promotion criteria, departmental restructuring, or personnel appointments, I have no intention of making changes."

"Everything remains as is. Song Company will still be the Song Company the world knows."

This statement was meant not only for the world, but also for Song Company's employees everywhere.

New leaders often burn three fires to assert authority—a universal tactic, especially for a new chairman like Xiao En, a well-known nepotism case, whose intentions toward the company no one could predict; employees were all on edge.

Wu Chang's declaration, whether true or not, at least offered everyone a reassuring calm on the surface.

"Second, as you just witnessed, our Primordial Armaments have achieved tremendous success—not only the standard models, but even the lab-class secret 'Hymn'-grade Primordial Armaments performed exceptionally well."

"You all likely recorded the battle just now; if your footage is unclear, don't worry—Song Company made official recordings, which we will release alongside the unit's specifications."

Wu Chang's second announcement instantly shifted everyone's focus away from the first.

They had all watched the earlier battles between the giants.

Though the combat was restrained—never leaving the square, unlike certain monster tokusatsu shows that routinely level entire cities for entertainment—it felt more like a massive outdoor AR performance.

Yet those who had personally experienced that battle would stake anything on it: this was no ordinary performance.

Everyone was curious: how many of the three giants in that battle were Song Company's Hymn-grade Primordial Armaments?

One? Two? Or all three?

Wu Chang gave the audience no more time to ponder and continued:

"As for the third matter, it is likely not good news—for you, or for all of humanity."

"Our world has long been under observation by extraterrestrial entities. The colossal Buddha statue that appeared in the battle was one such alien—they visited our world thousands of years ago and sought to rule it."

"Not just him—the burly man piloting the Ram Chariot, the suited man flying swiftly through the sky, the woman wielding the serpent staff—all of them have prototypes found in the mythologies of various nations, if you look closely."

"This is no coincidence. It is a planned, organized, long-term invasion."

Upon hearing this, the journalists nearly lost their minds.

What? Were the mythological figures from around the world actually aliens?

If this had come from some anonymous netizen, everyone would have dismissed him as insane—who still believed elementary-level conspiracy theories in this day and age?

But this came from Xiao En, chairman of Song Company, and right before their eyes had just occurred a myth-level battle—forcing them to seriously consider its truth.

One bold reporter stood up and asked:

"Chairman Xiao En, are you saying the background lore of the Hymn-grade Primordial Armaments is real?"

Wu Chang replied: "It is fact."

Wu Chang's confirmation sent the room into even greater chaos.

Over 80% of the world's population holds religious beliefs; the Federation where Song Company resides is a major religious nation, with most people devoutly and conservatively adhering to some faith.

So the deities they worshiped…

Wu Chang saw their unspoken doubts and said: "You're thinking correctly—all gods in mythology are, in a sense, extraterrestrials. Some integrated into our society; others left, waiting for the right moment to return and harvest."

The journalists gasped in unison; some with poor self-control turned red with rage, shouting they would punch Wu Chang.

Before security could react, a massive figure—white above, black below—appeared beside the enraged reporter and snatched him up.

The moment his feet left the ground, the virus shut off, and his sharp intellect reclaimed control.

The reporter, lifted by the collar, his furious red eyes instantly cleared; after being carried in two circles around the hall by the figure and then set back in place, he was now utterly docile.

The giant figure flickered—and reappeared behind Wu Chang.

Wu Chang said calmly: "Some of the conspiracy theories about Song Company are, in fact, correct. For a long time, Song Company has been reverse-engineering alien technology, and has secretly collaborated with the Federation."

"The most well-known of these achievements is the Spiritual Activation Surgery. Now, we have nearly completed our analysis of alien technology. Starting today, Song Company will grant ordinary humans the powers once reserved for gods in mythology."

The journalists stared at the white-and-black giant, then at their colleague who had just flown around the room, then at Wu Chang speaking, and finally at the large screen.

Dammit, eyes aren't enough.

Not just eyes—their brains were overloaded too; a flood of information crashed into them, nearly burning out their CPUs.

Wu Chang continued:

"The more ignorant you are about this, the better protected you've been—because from the very beginning, we were marked. Once our civilization reaches a certain level of advancement, extraterrestrials come to harvest all our achievements."

This was no lie—the instance plane had already been marked by the Abyss Game; strictly speaking, the players who descended were extraterrestrials.

"To prepare for the coming disaster and accelerate development, we secured various supports through many dishonorable actions with the Federation. I can apologize for them—but I will not regret them, nor will I stop."

Wu Chang surveyed the stunned journalists, then smiled:

"To be honest, this information was never meant for you or the public. I'm telling you this not to glorify Song Company, nor to portray myself as a lone savior of the world."

"I'm telling you so everyone knows: the true greatness that brought our civilization this far is humanity itself—not any other entity."

Wu Chang finished speaking and turned to leave without waiting for any reaction.

He left the silent conference room to the bewildered journalists and equally bewildered head of the PR department.

PR Director Liam Liu stared at Wu Chang's retreating back, eyes welling with helpless tears: Chairman, this segment wasn't in the prepared press conference script!

You pulled off the stunt and ran—what am I supposed to do now?!

Wu Chang left the hall and sighed, gazing at the massive Song Company logo in the lobby.

Schultz's bloody last words were too grim—he could do nothing about them yet, but he could at least fulfill part of his small wish.

It was easy to foresee: once the revelation that humanity's gods were aliens spread, the world would erupt into chaos.

No matter what religion one follows, believers would likely regard Song Company as heretical, especially devout fanatics who might launch extreme actions against Song Company.

But it doesn't matter—he had once been the manager of the Fully Automated Defense Systems Division, and he knew defense systems never held back when dealing with rioters.

If fanatics in this world can't be killed no matter how many times, and must cling to a deity to survive, he had no objection to bringing Elaine over to harvest the faith of this plane.

The press conference just held wasn't just to fulfill Schultz's unfinished wish, but also to wrap up everything tonight.

This was his private space, and since Song Company was now in his hands, he naturally had to ensure everything landed smoothly.

Portraying an alien as humanity's enemy could earn the righteous name of protecting humanity, legitimize Song Company's past actions, and pin all the billionaires killed by Schultz tonight onto the aliens.

Eighty percent of the instance plane's media were controlled by the Federation; among the Federation's most dominant media outlets, several had Song Company's shadows behind them.

He only needed to release a self-consistent explanation—whether they believed it or not, it was up to the native inhabitants of this plane.

Do you even understand what journalism is?

While the company's attention was focused on the press conference, Wu Chang's main body changed clothes, took a car out of the company, and arrived beside a small river outside Duonaojie.

The place where Lei Mengde and Mo Ke once met—his True Self and Lei Mengde were waiting here.

Wu Chang pretended not to know his True Self; the two exchanged a few brief words, then Wu Chang passed Lei Mengde a dossier and said, "Take a look yourself."

Before Wu Chang arrived, his True Self had already laid groundwork for Lei Mengde as one of the righteous aliens opposing interplanar invasion.

His True Self had manifested before Lei Mengde as a Sea Giant; Lei Mengde had seen Buk and others turn into light and vanish up close, and over this period, the supernatural powers everyone used clearly weren't obtainable through ordinary human psychic enhancement surgery.

All these factors combined made Lei Mengde accept the alien theory with remarkable ease.

Lei Mengde rapidly flipped through the data on his phone; his expression grew darker by the second.

The dossier contained abundant information, including but not limited to: the masterminds behind the Sid Massacre were a conspiracy among the Federation military, the Zhongqing Bureau, the Federal Investigation Bureau, and the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives.

The Federal Investigation Bureau set up the trap; the military provoked the Degenerate Monsters and staged the performance; the Zhongqing Bureau eliminated stubborn elements and the original residents of Sid Town during the chaos.

The real estate company owned by the Speaker's husband was responsible for buying up local disaster-hit properties at rock-bottom prices, transforming the once-scenic town into a luxury resort.

Many orphans, including Lei Mengde, were sent to welfare homes, where they learned about the Sid Massacre through various channels and swore revenge.

Among them, some exceptional individuals—like Lei Mengde—had a revenge drive surpassing all else, willing to expend tremendous effort; at that point, the Zhongqing Bureau would actively contact them, offer them an opportunity, and promise that if they worked hard enough, the Zhongqing Bureau would help them uncover the truth of that year.

These orphans, like nuclear-powered oxen and horses, chased the "carrot" of revenge dangled before them.

They carried out the most dangerous missions, did the most illicit work, and died like stray dogs in some unknown alley, still clinging to hope.

For example, this mission Lei Mengde undertook—whether originally planned to steal Song Company's secrets or later to track down Song Hunters—once completed, when he met Mo Ke again, Mo Ke would unhesitatingly eliminate him.

Wu Chang's dossier contained not only information about Sid Town, but also about Lei Mengde himself. Lei Mengde had always believed his infiltration and disguise were flawless, but in truth, the wealthy man Mo Rezi who happened to notice him had been cooperating with him all along in a performance.

Mo Rezi was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Sid Massacre; he had close ties to the upper echelons, and the mission to steal Song Company's secrets had even been his own request.

Schultz, whom Lei Mengde regarded as his greatest enemy, had known from the moment Lei Mengde first infiltrated the Second Laboratory and stole the Degenerate Monster Conversion Agent.

Schultz merely pretended ignorance, letting Mo Rezi and Mo Ke and others misjudge his control over Song Company, thus lowering their guard and avoiding further small-scale moves.

They simply waited until the Hymn Plan was underway, then settled all accounts together.

Every single piece of the above information came with detailed, complete evidence—truth and falsehood were easy to distinguish.

Lei Mengde stared at the dossier in his hands, drenched in sweat as if pulled from water, his pupils dilated and unfocused, as if he'd lost his soul.

Lei Mengde had always presented himself as a social elite—not only to maintain the persona of a billionaire's assistant, but because deep down, he was supremely confident in his own abilities.

An orphan, he leveraged his high IQ and EQ, constantly seizing opportunities, mastering skills few others could acquire, and earning the Zhongqing Bureau's recognition to become a spy.

He had escaped countless dangerous missions unscathed, a top agent of both the Zhongqing Bureau and the IRS, effortlessly navigating between the two organizations, using their power to fuel his revenge.

He had manipulated the financial district's legendary tycoon Mo Rezi at will, orchestrating coincidences so flawless he easily gained Mo Rezi's trust.

!

He struck back with exquisite skill; even without a behemoth like Song Company, no one could touch him—he easily controlled them.

But seeing Wu Chang's dossier, he realized it had all been a deliberately constructed illusion.

Even his entire life, every action, every hidden thought buried deepest in his heart—all had been manipulated and guided by others.

What was this?

A clown?

No no no—a clown, though ridiculous, knew full well he was a clown when performing on stage.

But he had always believed he was performing a refined play, convinced he was the protagonist, the prince of revenge, the favored child of fate.

He looked down at the audience laughing foolishly, thinking they were all stupid and ignorant, incapable of appreciating art, unable to perceive his lifelike micro-expressions and masterful lines, only laughing at the flaws he deliberately showed.

He despised these people.

But in the audience's eyes, his performance was anything but refined—he was merely a domesticated fat duck, displaying a bloated, obese body, desperately pretending to be a swan.

Like four 500-pound men, covered in chest and leg hair, with three layers of belly folds, holding hands on a stage, wearing torn ballet skirts, proudly performing the Four Little Swans.

Their faces weren't laughing with foolish joy—they were grimacing, barely holding back.

This crushing disparity nearly shattered Lei Mengde's mind; the humiliation of having his worldview overturned eclipsed even his anger and hatred upon discovering the truth.

Wu Chang watched Lei Mengde's pale face and regretted rushing things—he'd handed over all the information at once just to save time.

Would Lei Mengde be so traumatized he'd end up mentally broken?

Fortunately, Lei Mengde was truly resilient; ten minutes later, his CPU finally rebooted, his pupils regaining focus.

Wu Chang's main body maintained a cold, aloof pose; his True Self asked with concern, "Lei Mengde, are you alright?"

Lei Mengde gave a bitter laugh. "It's terrible—even worse than the day the Sid Massacre happened. Just now, I almost considered abandoning reason and fleeing reality."

"But thinking of my relatives who died in the Sid Massacre, of the orphans exploited to the bone by the Zhongqing Bureau, I came back to my senses—I must do something for them."

At this moment, Song Company, once his greatest enemy, had become utterly irrelevant; indeed, thanks to the dossier Wu Chang's main body delivered, Lei Mengde felt a flicker of gratitude.

Many of these details were Federation's highest-class secrets—just knowing them was nearly impossible, let alone having complete verification chains attached to every piece of evidence.

Much of this information might not even be known to Mo Ke—only Song Company possessed such means and power.

His True Self patted Lei Mengde's shoulder. "Everything will pass."

Lei Mengde looked at Wu Chang's main body and asked, "Mr. Xiao En, I want to expose all this. I hope you can help me."

Wu Chang's true body coldly said, "I don't have a habit of doing charity. I'm giving you this information only to repay the debt I owe to the guy beside you."

Lei Mengde took a deep breath and said, "With your support, I'm confident I can rise through this affair, seize real power within the Zhongqing Bureau, and make the Zhongqing Bureau the Zhongqing Bureau of Shengge Corporation."

"Whatever kind of guarantee you need—even implanting some special chip in my skull—I'm willing!"

Wu Chang's true body shook his head and turned to leave.

Lei Mengde watched Wu Chang's back, fists clenched tightly. He wanted to say something, but found no voice, his face sinking in defeat.

At that moment, Wu Chang, who had already walked five meters, stopped and said:

"I can find you a fearless Mao Xiong journalist, and help you recruit several professional teams as behind-the-scenes operators to expose this affair, then casually leak that you're one of the few survivors of Sid Town, to build you up."

Lei Mengde snapped his head up, pupils wide with shock.

Wu Chang continued, "I give you two months. Within two months after the exposure, Shengge Corporation will provide you with whatever help you need. During this time, you must enter the core of the Zhongqing Bureau's power."

"My people will evaluate you in real time. Don't disappoint me."

Lei Mengde immediately swore, "Mr. Xiao En, I guarantee that from now on, your will shall be the will of the Zhongqing Bureau!"

Wu Chang's true body nodded and continued walking away.

He nodded not because he believed in Lei Mengde's determination, but because a system prompt had just appeared before him.

"Player has completed the hidden side quest: Assist Lei Mengde in achieving revenge, expose the truth behind the Sid Town massacre, and prevent Shengge Corporation's true conspiracy."

"Player has received the hidden side quest reward: The Survivor's Revenge."

With the completion of the hidden side quest, a necklace appeared in Wu Chang's hand, its front engraved with a small town, its back inscribed with "Sid."

"Item Name: The Survivor's Revenge."

"Item Rank: A"

"Item Skill: Perfect Actor."

"Skill Description: When equipped with The Survivor's Revenge, impersonating a role will not raise suspicion from others, and they will unconsciously lower their guard and vigilance toward you. Can store up to three impersonated roles simultaneously."

"Item Skill: Hatred Mark."

"Skill Description: After acquiring an item of a certain organization, you may mark that organization through the item. When any member of the marked organization enters within 3 kilometers of you, you automatically lock their location and deal an additional 10% damage to them. Cooldown: 12 hours."

"Item Skill: Survivor."

"Skill Description: When acting alone, all physical attributes increase by 10%, and stealth skills gain 50% enhanced effect. When taking damage for the first time that reduces your HP below 20%, enter Survivor State: immediately restore 20% HP, increase all physical attributes by 30%, and greatly boost luck. Survivor State lasts 10 minutes. Cooldown: Two dimensions."

"Note: Those who survive great disaster are blessed with fortune."

With the completion of the hidden side quest, Wu Chang had no reason to remain in the instance dimension.

His true body returned to Shengge Corporation, instructing the chairman's assistants to proceed with the original plan, resolve unimportant matters based on experience, and consult Jeffrey if problems arose.

His True Self drank heavily with Lei Mengde, drinking him until he collapsed over the toilet, vomiting and unconscious, then left behind a note and departed.

Wu Chang chose to leave the instance, and as the familiar transition light enveloped him, he entered the instance settlement space, where TV walls played back his performances within the instance.

"Player No. 4444444 has successfully completed the instance Shengge Corporation. Settlement begins based on player performance within the instance."

"Player has completed Main Quest 1: Become an employee of Shengge Corporation and achieved one promotion or three weekly performance evaluations."

"Player has completed Main Quest 2: Investigate Shengge Corporation's hidden secrets."

"Player has completed Main Quest 3: Maintain the peace value of Weiduo City, ensuring it does not fall below 30 points."

"Player became an employee of Shengge Corporation and was promoted to Chairman of Shengge Corporation."

"Player uncovered all hidden secrets of Shengge Corporation, including the Hymn Project."

"Player successfully preserved peace in Weiduo City, preventing the tragedy of Sid Town from recurring."

"Player exposed the conspiracy behind Sid Town's past and assisted survivor Lei Mengde in achieving revenge."

"Instance Completion Rate: 100%!"

"Title 'Perfectionist' activated: Instance Completion Rate +5%."

"Title 'True Actor' activated: Instance Completion Rate +15%."

"Congratulations! Player ranked #1 in the side quest competition, gaining +30% additional Instance Completion Rate. Since Instance Completion Rate exceeded 90%, excess percentage converts into instance rewards."

"Total excess Instance Completion Rate: 50%. Base instance reward increased by 250%."

"Instance Rating: Perfect!"

"Experience and Corroded Silver Coin settlement bonus: 300%!"

"Player received Experience: 52500 (5000 × 3.5 × 3)."

"Player received Corroded Silver Coins: 105000 (10000 × 3.5 × 3)."

Wu Chang rubbed his hands together. The base reward settlement was complete. Now came his favorite part: the instance reward settlement.

(End of Chapter)