"Boss, I've already posted everything as you requested. Could you settle the remaining payment now?"
"Sure, I'll transfer it to you through the Ascendant Home transaction."
Beixing, inside an official shelter.
A middle-aged man wearing smart glasses, covered in flabby fat, with long hair reaching his shoulders, was conducting a remote call through his glasses.
The conversation was short, just a few exchanges back and forth.
After it ended, the long-haired man logged into Ascendant Home and, without waiting long, received the remaining payment of thirty thousand Ascension Coins through a remote transaction.
Adding the twenty thousand from the deposit, minus the platform's commission cut, he had a total of fifty thousand Ascension Coins in hand.
"This money is too easy to make, haha."
The long-haired man wore a satisfied smile and sent a message to the person he'd traded with in private messages: "Thanks boss! If you have similar commissions in the future, make sure to hit me up again!"
The other side quickly replied: "You did well. But if I were you, the thing on my mind right now wouldn't be new commissions, it would be my personal safety."
The long-haired man replied: "Boss means Shadow's warning? Haha, don't worry. I live in an official shelter, does Shadow really dare to barge in here to kill me?
Even if he had the ability, would he dare to do it? Breaking into an official shelter to kill someone, heh heh, the authorities wouldn't let him get away with that!"
The other side replied: "I sincerely hope you're right."
The man frowned slightly at this reply, muttering curses under his breath: "This dumbass is being a bit passive-aggressive, isn't he?"
The other side stopped replying. He closed the forum and opened his social media homepage.
His forwarded post's reply count still hadn't exceeded ten thousand. The comments weren't on his side, but at least there were fewer people criticizing him and more watching the drama.
That's right, he was the "Super Little Blogger" with millions of followers.
As a professional "Shadow-hater," he had spent eight years persistently, day in and day out, trashing Guan Tong. And now, that dedication had finally paid off.
A mysterious client had specifically sought him out and sent him a commission.
As long as he followed the client's requirements, continuously leveraging his platform to attack "Shadow" aggressively during this Rule Period, he would earn Ascension Coin rewards.
How could he pass up such a great deal?
Super Little Blogger naturally accepted it immediately and, per the client's instructions, kept attacking Guan Tong online.
His methods included but were not limited to direct insults, spreading rumors, attacking people associated with Guan Tong, and so on.
Then, just yesterday, right before Guan Tong posted, the client had even added a new commission on the fly.
The content wasn't to refute or argue head-on, but to provoke. The fewer people paying attention, the better. The reward was seventy thousand Ascension Coins.
Getting such a rich reward just for posting a single provocative message, Super Little Blogger was absolutely thrilled and immediately agreed to complete the commission.
Now with fifty thousand Ascension Coins in hand, Super Little Blogger was floating on cloud nine when he noticed many people @-ing him in the Bear Brother group chat.
He entered the group and saw a bunch of people talking about him.
"Little Bear, I'd advise you to delete that post ASAP. The risk is way too high."
"Yeah, Shadow is the kind of guy who'd go to Suroma and play demolition mode. You can tell from his post that he's genuinely pissed. Keep attacking him and you're in serious danger."
"The official group admin just said the same thing, hoping you'd delete it. This thing has blown up so big, the authorities clearly want to cool things down. Aren't you just pouring oil on the fire?"
Super Big Bear King stared at these messages, his brows knitting tighter and tighter until they nearly twisted into a rope.
How could he delete it? Sure, he'd already pocketed the client's money, but the client was so generous that there might be future collaboration opportunities.
If he deleted the post the moment he got paid, why would they ever work with him again?
Besides, he thought these people were being way too paranoid.
He directly spoke up in the group, replying to everyone: "You guys are afraid of him, but I'm not. I live in an official shelter, what do I have to fear? Do you really think he'd dare to come here and kill someone?"
His confident statement immediately stirred up the group.
"Big Bear has a point. If Shadow really did go kill someone in an official shelter, the severity of that would be extreme. The authorities wouldn't tolerate him."
"That's true too. Beixing's official shelters aren't like those in other countries. They have strong official protection."
"I still think it's iffy. Shadow doesn't give a damn about rules like that."
"Unless he doesn't plan to stay in Beixing anymore, doesn't plan to deal with Beixing's officials ever again, there's no way he'd break into a shelter to kill someone!"
The people in the group were all bloggers, and they all lived in shelters themselves. Naturally, they wanted to believe this, treating the shelter as an absolutely reliable safe room.
Super Big Bear King watched as his brows gradually relaxed. However, at that moment, someone in the group played devil's advocate.
"Official shelters do have official backing, that's true. But why does everyone assume the authorities would protect Big Bear? If you were the official decision-maker, who would you rather not cross, Big Bear or Shadow?"
The moment those words were spoken, the group fell into a brief silence.
Super Big Bear King was stunned for a few seconds too. After checking the profile of the blogger who said it, he typed out a furious rant:
"A guy with just a few hundred thousand followers is going to act like some big-shot strategist here? Have you ever worked with the authorities? Have you ever helped with official propaganda? Do you know my relationship with the officials? Do you understand the authorities better than I do?"
After the four consecutive challenges, that small blogger said nothing more. The other bloggers chimed in to support Super Big Bear King for a bit, then let it drop.
Super Big Bear King's mood had been ruined by that one comment, so he stopped looking at the group chat.
Just then, his three roommates from the same dorm came back. Each of them greeted him with a "Bear Bro."
Beixing's official shelters rarely made special exceptions. Whether you were a big influencer, a celebrity, or some other notable figure, everyone stayed in four-person rooms.
Only an extremely small number of special personnel got private rooms, and Super Big Bear King, despite being a multi-million follower influencer, definitely didn't qualify for that privilege.
He was annoyed by it, but there was nothing he could do. He could only use money to buy off his three roommates and get them to provide him with conveniences.
This made him nostalgic for the peaceful era.
Back then, he could hire several assistants. He had clothes put on him and food brought to him. Besides entertaining himself and posting on his blog, he didn't have to do anything else on his own.
Super Big Bear King looked at the three of them and suddenly waved his hand grandly: "Come here, come here. Big Bro just earned some coins recently. Five hundred for each of you, take it."
"Wow! Thanks, Bear Bro!"
"Bear Bro is the best!!!"
"Being assigned to a dorm with Bear Bro is the best luck ever!"
The roommates' chorus of "Bear Bro" quickly lifted Super Big Bear King's spirits again, and the displeasure from that one group comment was tossed aside.
At the same time.
In Heilanja, Tianci destroyed the phone he'd used to send the message and casually tossed it down the mountain.
Under Han Qiu's tutelage, he placed great emphasis on information security.
All communications were encrypted. He avoided using Ascendant Home whenever possible. If he absolutely had to use it, he would only use a one-time account.
One account for one contact only. After use, he'd deactivate it immediately and never log in again.
After finishing all of that, he returned to the villa where Han Qiu was staying. The latter was standing in front of a video camera, smiling at the lens.
"Tianci, perfect timing. Go behind the camera and check how I look. Am I photogenic?" Han Qiu said.
Tianci nodded, walked behind the camera, and looked at the image on the monitor.
In the frame, Han Qiu wore a dark suit with a red tie, his hair fixed in place with styling wax. He looked dignified and imposing, exuding elite charisma.
"Perfect," Tianci said. "The Chairman's image is absolutely perfect."
"Heh heh, not bad."
"I've already finished the task you assigned, Chairman. Should we record the video and release it next?"
"Not yet." Han Qiu shook his head. "We still need to wait."
"Wait?"
"Wait until Guan Tong kills that Super Big Bear King."
"...Does the Chairman believe he'll definitely make a move? I think so too, but that blogger does live in Beixing's official shelter after all."
Han Qiu looked completely unconcerned: "So what? Even if he were living in the Countermeasures Research Office base, Guan Tong would still go kill him."
"The moment that fat pig dies, Guan Tong will be thrust into the eye of the storm, and Suroma will be more than happy to fan the flames." Han Qiu's smile grew more excited. He licked his lips, his gaze both anticipatory and composed.
"That will be my perfect moment to make a grand entrance riding the wave of this public opinion storm."