Chapter 1 A Heavy Blow

The news of the Apex Contenders' Tournament was undoubtedly a bombshell, a stone that stirred up a thousand waves.

From the moment the competition announcement was posted on the official website's homepage at midnight on April 20th, the gaming world underwent a drastic change, with undercurrents surging.

Because of the tournament, heroes from all walks of life sharpened their swords and spears, working tirelessly day and night, wanting to improve their strength as much as possible in the last ten days.

As a result, auction house prices soared again. The service of exchanging RMB for game currency also ushered in a wave of enthusiasm, and even many players who never recharged couldn't hold back. The sales of Surprise Boxes also increased significantly. For those players who had accumulated thousands of skill points, when was a better time to use them?

But precisely during this period, Feng Bujue didn't log in for three consecutive days.

In the blink of an eye, it was April 23rd.

That morning, someone rang the intercom at Feng Bujue's house.

Brother Jue rolled off the sofa and onto the floor, groggily staggering to the door. He supported himself with his left hand against the wall, and held the receiver to his ear with his right, saying, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Ouyang Jian," a man's voice came from the other side.

"Didn't I tell you, if there's nothing important, don't come looking for me so early in the morning," Feng Bujue said.

"Early your head! It's ten o'clock in the morning!" Ouyang Jian roared. "Stop talking nonsense and open the door."

"Okay, okay..." Feng Bujue replied casually. He pressed the door-opening button while glancing at the clock on the wall. It really was ten o'clock already. "Ah... I was writing last night and didn't go to sleep until three or four..." Brother Jue hadn't been idle for these three days; he had been writing almost all the time. Besides searching for information online, he didn't even look at the forums. Of course, don't think he had changed his nature... He just wanted to be able to play the Apex Contenders' Tournament wholeheartedly in May, so he wanted to finish all his work in advance.

Bang, bang, bang, bang—rapid knocking on the door soon followed.

Feng Bujue opened the door and looked at the man in front of him with an unhappy expression. "You know I have a doorbell, right?"

"Knocking can more directly express my irritable mood," the other party replied. This Mr. Ouyang Jian could be considered one of Feng Bujue's few friends, and also Brother Jue's "personal" legal representative.

Ouyang Jian was just thirty years old this year, already a married man with a successful career. He had a dignified appearance and an upright air. Usually, whenever he went out, he would wear a neat suit, comb his hair back with pomade, and wear a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. At first glance, he seemed like a steady and reliable young talent.

But in reality, this guy was a genuine shyster. If Ouyang Jian were placed in the sixties, he would definitely become a troublemaker who seriously affected social stability and unity. Even in 2055, a society where the legal system was already quite sound, Feng Bujue once sighed, "It's a pity you didn't become a consultant for the Italian Mafia."

Undeniably, Ouyang Jian possessed all the qualities of a top lawyer. He was eloquent, quick-witted, professionally skilled, and best at exploiting legal loopholes... But for some reason, he just liked to take on some bizarre cases or serve some bizarre people.

In Ouyang Jian's eyes, the law was just a tool; morality wasn't even a tool, but something as disposable as toilet paper. If he had the opportunity, he wouldn't mind defending a serial killer or a drug lord. Because he had a very extreme principle—victory is justice, and winning a lawsuit is a lawyer's way of upholding professional ethics. Since people are well aware that they live in an unfair and impossible to be fair world, they should more deeply understand the meaning of the existence of the judicial system. In this game, waving the banner of morality is useless. If you want justice to be served, you have to be able to play, and you have to win.

In a copyright dispute a few years ago, Ouyang Jian became Feng Bujue's lawyer, and thus, their lives intersected. After that, the two became friends, and they quite hit it off, feeling like they had met late. Their meeting was like Hannibal Lecter meeting the Joker. In Xiao Tan's imagination, the scene when Jian-ge and Jue-ge talked alone was probably: one party describing the cooking methods of human flesh in an elegant and calm tone, and the other party complaining in a lazy but sinister tone, "Why so serious?"

"Why didn't you tell me you changed editors?" After entering the house, Ouyang Jian came to the sofa and sat down familiarly, while taking things out of his briefcase, he asked.

"Is it necessary to tell you about this?" Feng Bujue said.

"Do you have to wait until you're sitting in the defendant's seat before you remember my phone number and email address?" Ouyang Jian replied half-jokingly.

"That's not necessarily true. If one day I need to deal with a corpse, destroy evidence, clean up a crime scene, or something... I'll probably ask you for help too," Feng Bujue said.

"Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about a lawyer's confidentiality agreement..." Ouyang Jian said.

"No, I just have a lot of confidence in your character." After Feng Bujue closed the door, he yawned, rubbed his eyes, and walked with unsteady steps to sit diagonally opposite Ouyang Jian. "You are undoubtedly the kind of person who can help clients launder money, cover up evidence, change their names, and escape sanctions, you can be called the conscience of the legal profession..."

"First of all, I am a law-abiding citizen." Ouyang Jian had already opened the tablet he brought and was looking for a file. "Secondly, I am quite sure... that lawyer you are talking about is Saul Goodman (a fictional character in *Breaking Bad*)..."

"Isn't Saul your goal?" Feng Bujue asked with a smile.

"If my goal is Saul, then is your goal V?" Ouyang Jian was one of the few people who could hold his own when arguing with Brother Jue.

"Unfortunately, I don't have V's execution ability," Feng Bujue said. "And I think that without the protagonist's halo, even if V is physically stronger, it would be difficult to successfully implement those plans in the movie." He shrugged, "Besides... V is a martyr who is willing to sacrifice, but I am just a... uh..."

Brother Jue couldn't finish his words, because at this moment, Ouyang Jian picked up the tablet and displayed a piece of text in front of Feng Bujue - 【They use powerful state machinery to imprison people's thoughts; there are mouthpieces to defend them, control public opinion, and numb people's hearts. Hypocritical but despicable party hacks, preaching lofty beliefs, but doing the dirtiest deeds.

They have a web-like censorship system, surveillance measures, isolating their people on a dark and desolate island, all human rights are the most humble maids, facing the tyranny of autocracy, with no way to escape.

And the rulers high above have luxurious palaces, extravagant lives, wealth comparable to a country, and are above any law—even though those laws are also made by themselves—unparalleled privileges. These privileges can be expressed as a son of a high-ranking official driving a luxury car with a special license, ignoring traffic laws; it can be a judgment that falsely accuses a young girl of prostitution after raping her; it can be the contrast between the luxurious government office buildings and the people's simple and cramped dwellings; it can be the continuous stream of benefits in the business world that are guaranteed to make a profit only because of the escort of dignitaries from all walks of life.

The people have almost forgotten the taste of butter, but the head of state can use a special train to satisfy his appetite. Of course, it's not just butter, but also the head of state's cigars, and the warm milk that the head of state must drink every night, and the beauties who deliver the milk... everyone knows these things, but they can't have opinions, otherwise, waiting for you is a terrifying black bag. 】

"Remember this 'film review' you wrote for *V for Vendetta*..." Ouyang Jian made quotation marks with the index and middle fingers of both hands, "and how much trouble it brought us?"

"This is indeed just a film review," Feng Bujue sneered. "I still maintain that those who overreact to this are guilty of a guilty conscience."

"Is that so? It's the first time I've seen someone use... 【Pigs who are greedy for pleasure, mocking, ridiculing, cowardly, fearful.】in the last paragraph of a film review." Ouyang Jian took the tablet back in front of him again. "If it weren't for the fact that you haven't taken any substantial action yet, and this 'film review' does mention some plots in the movie, I'm afraid we would have to talk through bulletproof glass and iron bars with a microphone."

Brother Jue stretched, and leaned back on the sofa with his hands behind his head: "Alright, big lawyer. Let's not talk about this anymore... What exactly is it that requires you to come here in person?"

"Didn't I say it as soon as I came in? It's about your new editor," Ouyang Jian opened a new document and handed the tablet to Feng Bujue.

The latter took the tablet, looked at it, and asked, "Is there a problem with my contract with the magazine?" Brother Jue wasn't surprised that Ouyang Jian had a copy of his contract, because Ouyang was there when he signed it. One of them had a reading addiction, and the other needed it for his profession, so they made an extra copy of the contract at that time, and each took one to read, so that they could exchange opinions.

"There's nothing wrong with the contract," Ouyang Jian said. "The problem is you."

"Ah?"

"Ah what? You thought... those past behaviors of yours, just because they've passed doesn't mean it's over, right?" Ouyang Jian said. "Scroll down, I've marked all the places where you breached the contract with different colors."

Feng Bujue dragged the document on the tablet, quickly found what the other party was talking about, and quickly browsed it: "Then according to the contract, I have to compensate..."

"There's no need for that," Ouyang Jian interrupted. "They said they won't pursue it for the time being."

"Hmm... 'They'?" Feng Bujue paused for a second. "An Yueqin?"

"What do you think?" Ouyang Jian replied.

"No way, she came to you?" After Feng Bujue said this, he instantly reacted, "Uh... I made a mistake, I shouldn't have left your contact information with the magazine."

"I also find it very strange. I remember that in the emergency contact person column, you only filled in Wang Tanzhi and Bao Qing," Ouyang Jian asked. "When did you fill in my name and contact information too?"

"Of course, it was added after you left..." Feng Bujue replied. "I also added a bracket next to your name, noting that you are a 'lawyer'."

Ouyang Jian sighed to the sky, "You know... I'm considering adopting a third option besides hourly billing and fixed fee billing for clients like you..."

"What is it?" Brother Jue asked.

"Collect 'protection fees' regularly," Ouyang Jian joked.

"Tch~" Feng Bujue said, "With our friendship, why talk about money... right? Besides, for you lawyers, isn't making money as easy as drinking water?"

"Ha!" Ouyang Jian chuckled dryly. "If I worked in a large multinational law firm, maybe making money would be as easy as peeing." He shook his head and said, "A small lawyer like me works to death, and the hourly wage is about the same as a student working in a convenience store." He seemed very helpless. "From time to time, I have to deal with one or two guys like you. I'm really earning the money of selling cabbage and worrying about selling heroin..."

During the conversation, Feng Bujue had finished reading the content marked in the contract, and brought the topic back to the right track, saying, "I said... the words 'won't pursue it for the time being' seem very subtle."

"There's nothing subtle, it's naked intimidation," Ouyang Jian said. "I personally think that implementing it on you is reasonable, justified, and legal." He exclaimed with a comfortable expression, "Ah... so satisfying."

"Speaking of... this little girl has quite the guts..." Feng Bujue thought of An Yueqin's appearance and said, "After suffering a loss with me, she sang such a tune for me in three days."

"In short, take care of yourself," Ouyang Jian took the computer back and packed it into his bag while saying, "According to the contract, your *Second-Rate Detective and Cat* has to be serialized for at least one more year, right? Working under someone, restrain yourself a little, don't make trouble for yourself."

"Isn't it just submitting manuscripts on time..." Feng Bujue stood up and prepared to send Ouyang to the door. "As long as I do it seriously, there's nothing I can't do."

Ouyang walked to the door: "Oh, right, I've been busy since morning and haven't eaten anything yet, do you want to come out and eat something together?"

"I don't have an appetite just after getting up," Feng Bujue said. "Also, I have to deal with your footprints as soon as possible."

"My foot..." Ouyang heard this and looked down, and the next second, his expression changed drastically, "Hey! What is this!"

"Don't worry, it's just cat poop." Feng Bujue yawned again, "Ah... you stepped on it not long after you came in, and it was too late to remind you when I noticed it."

"The strange smell I've been smelling all the time turned out to be this..." Ouyang Jian roared, "Speaking of, how did you manage to be so calm the whole time!"

"I'm used to it," Feng Bujue said leisurely with an indifferent look, "And... actually, before you came in, I also stepped on it..."