I Became the Most Popular Character by Acting as a Villain in the Manga

Chapter 33

Bai Xuechao "Mm"ed, and he and Duan Xingzhi walked into the Songhe Global Financial Center. All the black-suited men followed behind them, forming a long, imposing procession.

The first few floors of the skyscraper housed a shopping mall, and at this time, quite a few ordinary customers were still browsing, inevitably casting glances at them.

Bai Xuechao and Duan Xingzhi both had incredibly high good looks and an air of nobility, like two young masters from wealthy families. With so many burly black-suited men, who looked like bodyguards, following behind them, it was hard not to attract attention. It wasn't until they turned into the direction of the elevators that the curious onlookers retracted their gazes.

The group passed the commonly used elevators without stopping, instead continuing further in, even through a door, before stopping in front of a few other elevators.

These elevators were exclusive to the Dark Organization.

One of the black-suited men stepped forward, swiped a card to open an elevator, and the rest entered one by one. Bai Xuechao and Duan Xingzhi entered last, standing near the elevator door.

The elevator started, ascending continuously. The numbers on the display inside the cabin kept increasing, finally stopping at 72—the very top floor of the skyscraper, which was also where the Old leader resided.

The elevator doors opened, and several gun muzzles were aimed at the white-haired boy and the white-gold haired youth inside the elevator.

Bai Xuechao walked out without changing his expression, came before the black-suited man waiting in front of the elevator doors, and spread his arms.

The man meticulously scanned him with a handheld metal detector. Duan Xingzhi behind him was no exception. After a rigorous security check, the two were allowed to proceed further. The black-suited men inside the elevator did not follow; a different group of people took their place.

Although checking for weapons was an unnecessary inspection for special ability users, for the Old leader, who was old, cherished his life, was wary, and suspicious, it was a comfort.

At least for the Old leader, special ability users with weapons and those without were two different kinds of people.

Bai Xuechao and Duan Xingzhi continued deeper inside, first passing through an explosion-proof door, then two bulletproof glass doors that required fingerprint and iris verification, respectively. With each door they passed, the people following behind them would switch, the only constants being the gun muzzles pointed at them and the cameras above the corridor.

Finally, they reached the Old leader's office door.

The door's surface appeared to be a carved wooden door, adorned with antique-style pine and crane longevity patterns. In reality, the wood was merely an outer covering; the core was an explosion-proof door.

The four armed bodyguards guarding the door saw them and bowed respectfully, greeting them: "Mr. Bai, Mr. Duan."

Two of them slowly pushed open the large door after standing up.

Dim, warm light spilled from the door crack, revealing a room with a classical Chinese aesthetic before Bai Xuechao.

Facing the main door was a Huanghuali wood desk, behind which was an empty grandmaster's chair. Beside the chair stood a pole-mounted lamp stand with a zitan palace lantern hanging from it. The floor was covered with a dark blue carpet, adorned with beige dragon and auspicious cloud patterns.

Bai Xuechao and Duan Xingzhi entered the office, and the large door closed behind them.

From behind a four-panel screen in the room, painted with plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums, emerged a spry old man. He was Liu He, the Old leader of the Dark Organization, now eighty-eight years old, with completely white hair and wrinkles on his cheeks and neck.

However, due to expensive maintenance and excellent mental state, he appeared somewhat younger than his actual age.

His keen gaze fell on the two, and a benevolent smile suddenly bloomed on his face: "Xiao Xue, Xiao Xing, you've returned."

"Leader," the two of them nodded.

Although Bai Xuechao privately called Liu He "Old fella" or "Old leader," in front of Liu He, the word "Old" was absolutely forbidden.

Liu He walked to the grandmaster's chair and sat down, picking up the teapot on the table to pour himself a cup of tea, which was still warm.

With Bai Xuechao present, the task of reporting the mission naturally fell to him, not the less eloquent Duan Xingzhi. Bai Xuechao succinctly recounted what had happened at the Marine amusement park, for now, not mentioning the private connection between Jiang Yunyi and Qiao Zhanpeng—not that he was letting Jiang Yunyi off the hook, but he knew that saying it now would be useless. He needed more leverage.

Liu He held a blue-and-white glazed red teacup, slowly savoring the tea, and said in a deep voice, "Since both father and son of the Qiao family are dead, I will not pursue their private storage of special ability energy crystals."

...The people were already dead, so even if one wanted to pursue it, they couldn't.

Bai Xuechao knew Liu He's thoughts weren't on the Marine amusement park. He took out the translucent, blood-red crystal from his trench coat pocket, stepped forward a few paces, and gently placed it on the Huanghuali wood desk: "Leader, this is the special ability energy crystal I obtained from Qiao Jing."

"Good child, you truly never disappoint me." An satisfied smile appeared on Liu He's aged face, his eyes deeply harboring greed. He picked up the crystal, which seemed to glow with a halo under the warm yellow light. "Our Dark Organization finally has its second special ability energy crystal."

Bai Xuechao merely stood quietly.

After Liu He had admired the special ability energy crystal enough, he looked up at Bai Xuechao and smiled: "Xiao Xue, what I promised you, I will arrange it shortly. You can return here anytime. As for Yunyi, the next time I see him, I might have a good talk with him."

"Thank you, Leader." Bai Xuechao lowered his gaze and nodded.

Excellent, he finally returned to the center from his marginalized position, and didn't have to go back to that broken hospital.

As for the Old leader's remark about criticizing Jiang Yunyi, he didn't take it seriously; the other party would just say a few insignificant words to Jiang Yunyi, at most hinting for Jiang Yunyi to rein himself in a bit. The Old leader said this to him, merely because he was well-versed in the art of interpersonal communication, just to make him feel a bit more comfortable.

...

Leaving the leader's office, Bai Xuechao and Duan Xingzhi did not return the way they came, but walked along the corridor in another direction.

If they were to return the same way, they would need to go through so many verifications to open the doors, which was very troublesome. The direction they were currently heading had an elevator that only went down, not up, specifically used for leaving.

The 71st floor of this skyscraper was empty. The Old leader did not allow anyone to live below him, so the residences and offices of the four cadres were all on the 70th floor.

The "return here anytime" that Liu He just mentioned referred to the 70th floor. Of course, one could also choose to live outside, like Jiang Yunyi.

Bidding farewell to Duan Xingzhi, and refusing the other party's offer to escort him, Bai Xuechao walked alone towards his residence.

Bai Xuechao became a cadre at the age of 13, the youngest cadre in the organization's history. A quarter of the 70th floor belonged to him.

This brings up the structure of this floor. The 70th floor was divided into four areas, arranged in a "field" shape, with each area exclusively belonging to one cadre. Within each area were luxurious suites for cadres to live in, as well as offices and meeting rooms, and some empty rooms that could be freely arranged and renovated.

Bai Xuechao's and Duan Xingzhi's areas were adjacent, one after the other, but Duan Xingzhi's and Jiang Yunyi's areas faced each other. Therefore, he unexpectedly yet not so unexpectedly ran into Jiang Yunyi on his way back.

He also didn't know if this counted as a narrow encounter.

Jiang Yunyi was not alone; behind him followed a gray-haired, gray-eyed youth holding a Tang Hengdao, who was also an acquaintance of Bai Xuechao. His name was Ji Chuanze, and he had been following Jiang Yunyi for two years.

"Xuechao, you're back." Jiang Yunyi's brows and eyes held a gentle smile. "Do you want to come to my place for milk tea? I remember you like to drink it."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xuechao raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and met the dark golden eyes behind the other's glasses without reservation: "Are you intentionally blocking me here?"

He was no longer in the hospital; he no longer needed to be cautious of Jiang Yunyi's special ability.

"Mr. Jiang merely invited you, how can you speak like that!" Ji Chuanze was like a lit firecracker, holding his Tang Hengdao and defending Jiang Yunyi, exclaiming, "That's too impolite!"

Jiang Yunyi's smile remained gentle, but his tone subtly carried a hint of deterrence: "Chuanze, you've overstepped."

"...Yes." Ji Chuanze fell silent. Because Jiang Yunyi chose to defend Bai Xuechao, his expression showed some grievance.

"If I recall correctly—" Bai Xuechao, however, had no intention of letting Ji Chuanze off the hook. He tilted his head and looked at him, "I was just on sick leave, not dismissed?"

Ji Chuanze was stunned, his gray eyes, which seemed to hold mist, widened slightly as if he hadn't quite understood what Bai Xuechao meant.

"I'm still a cadre, you know?"

Bai Xuechao smiled, as if intentionally trying to provoke him, his eyes and brows tinged with a smugness that annoyed people. He slowly continued, "Not greeting me or saluting me when you see me, isn't that even more impolite from you?"

In the organization, age and seniority were nominal; only status was real.

Even if Bai Xuechao was young, everyone in the organization except the leader and other cadres had to bow and respectfully address him as "Mr. Bai."

Ji Chuanze gritted his teeth, his face full of indignation: "You just joined the organization earlier and happened to make achievements."

"Chuanze," Jiang Yunyi said in a deep voice.

Ji Chuanze's eyes showed even greater grievance, and only then did he reluctantly bow and say, "Mr. Bai."

Bai Xuechao pushed his luck, like a proud cat, leisurely and recklessly treading on Ji Chuanze's sensitive nerves. He said nonchalantly, "I remember someone once said I was deaf, right? Then you should know that if your voice is too low, I can't hear you, oh?"

That "someone" was naturally Ji Chuanze, and it was a long time ago.

Ji Chuanze was startled as he suddenly recalled this incident, not expecting something from so long ago to become a boomerang, hitting himself.

He suppressed his annoyance, took a deep breath, bowed again, and said loudly, "Mr. Bai!"

"Mm, I heard you," Bai Xuechao said leisurely.

Ji Chuanze straightened up, his gray eyes, looking at Bai Xuechao, were like knives, his gaze fierce.

Bai Xuechao: Hehe, you can only glare at me now.

Jiang Yunyi smiled and extended the invitation again: "Do you want to come to my place?"

Bai Xuechao directly refused: "No need."

"Don't you want to know who that special ability user is?" Jiang Yunyi asked.

"I do, but I don't need to," Bai Xuechao smiled faintly, his pale lips opening and closing as he uttered a place: "A Port."

Jiang Yunyi's smile faded slightly but remained: "It seems you already know."

Bai Xuechao asked: "Are you wondering why I know?"

Since Jiang Yunyi could say to him, "I'll wait for you to come back to me," he was absolutely confident that Bai Xuechao wouldn't find out. For example, by gradually eroding Bai Xuechao's influence over these four months, he could have the intelligence department conceal information about that special ability user, or simply delay the investigation.

"Can you enlighten me?" Jiang Yunyi asked, indirectly answering Bai Xuechao's question; he was indeed wondering.

Bai Xuechao simply walked past him, leaving behind a sentence: "I won't tell you."

After he walked away, Jiang Yunyi and Ji Chuanze were still looking at his retreating back, the former with an enigmatic expression in his eyes, the latter with some anger.

Over there, Bai Xuechao heard Xiao 6 take a breath.

Bai Xuechao's mouth twitched: "What, did I give you something to ship again?"

"Ying, Host understands me." Xiao 6 raised a red heart with one hand. "My passion for Jiang Yunyi has rekindled, ying-ying. But I feel Ji Chuanze is even cuter, like a ruffled puppy, bullied by you so much that he can only whimper pitifully with his paws tucked in, hehehehe, when will he be able to rise above his superior..."

Bai Xuechao: "..."

It was fine; he was used to it. His silly System was always like this. If Xiao 6 ever stopped shipping, he would even worry that the System had been swapped. Where else could he find such an easy-to-fool System?

Hiss, wait a minute?

Bai Xuechao raised his eyebrows: "Rise above his superior?"

Xiao 6: OvO

Bai Xuechao: Unreasonable!

The process of one person and one system fighting over a position was not mentioned.

The next day, Bai Xuechao and Duan Xingzhi had breakfast together, then returned to their respective offices to handle documents.

Returning after several months, he had to take over many things from Jiang Yunyi again. To catch up on the content missed during his absence, he had a vast amount of things to review. Piles of files stacked up like small mountains on his desk.

Fortunately, Bai Xuechao had a sharp mind and an excellent memory. After one day, he had reviewed most of it and remembered what needed remembering. During this time, he also had someone send him lunch at Xiao 6's reminder.

In the evening, he stood up and walked to the window to stretch, looking down at the city enveloped in a splendid sunset glow.

Xiao 6 suddenly said: "Host, the comic has updated!"