Chapter 1 The Pinnacle Battle

The news of the Pinnacle Battle was undoubtedly a blockbuster, creating a huge stir.

From zero o'clock on April 20th, when the competition announcement was posted on the official website's homepage, the world of Jianghu in the game had already undergone a change of color, with undercurrents surging.

Because of the Pinnacle Battle, heroes from all walks of life sharpened their swords and worked day and night, wanting to improve their strength as much as possible in the last ten days.

As a result, the prices of goods in the auction house soared again. The service of exchanging RMB for game currency also ushered in a boom, and even many players who never recharged couldn't help but start spending. 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.

Jue-ge rolled off the sofa onto the floor, groggily staggered to the door, propped himself against the wall with his left hand, picked up the receiver with his right hand, and held it to his ear, saying, "Who is it?"

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

"Didn't I tell you, don't come looking for me early in the morning if it's not important," Feng Bujue said.

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

"Okay, okay..." Feng Bujue responded casually. As he pressed the door opener, he glanced at the clock on the wall and realized it really was ten o'clock. "Ah... I was writing until three or four o'clock again last night..." Jue-ge hadn't been idle these three days; he had been writing almost constantly. Aside from looking up information online, he didn't even browse the forums. Of course, don't think he had changed his ways... he just wanted to be able to play the Pinnacle Battle in May without any distractions, so he wanted to finish all his work in advance.

Bang bang bang bang—a rapid knocking sound soon rang out.

Feng Bujue opened the door, looking 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 was one of Feng Bujue's few friends, and also Jue-ge's "personal" legal representative.

Ouyang Jian was just thirty years old this year, a person who had already started a family, established himself, and achieved success in his career. He had a dignified appearance and a righteous face. Usually, whenever he went out, he would wear a neat suit, comb his hair back with oil, 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 complete—shyster. If Ouyang Jian were placed in the sixties, he would definitely become a stirring stick that seriously affected social stability and unity. Even in the society of 2055, where the legal system was already quite sound, Feng Bujue had once sighed, "It's a pity that 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 loopholes in the law... But for some reason, he just liked to take on strange cases or serve strange people.

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

In a copyright dispute a few years ago, Ouyang Jian became Feng Bujue's legal representative, and thus their lives intersected. After that, the two became friends, and they quite hit it off, feeling like they had met too 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 side using an elegant and calm tone to describe the cooking methods of human flesh, and the other side using a lazy and sinister tone to complain "whysoserious?"

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

"Was there any need to tell you about this?" Feng Bujue said.

"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 I ever need to deal with a corpse, destroy evidence, clean up a crime scene, or something... I'd probably ask you for help too," Feng Bujue said.

"Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about lawyers' confidentiality agreements..." Ouyang Jian said.

"No, I just have a lot of confidence in your character," Feng Bujue said after closing the door. Yawning, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and walking with unsteady steps, he came to sit diagonally opposite Ouyang Jian. "You're undoubtedly the kind of person who can help clients launder money, cover up crimes, 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 had brought and was browsing through files. "Secondly, I'm quite sure... the lawyer you're talking about is saulgoodman (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 very few people who could hold his own when arguing with Jue-ge.

"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'm just a... uh..."

Jue-ge 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 a powerful state machine to imprison people's thoughts; there are mouthpieces who defend them, control public opinion, and numb people's hearts. Hypocritical but despicable party hacks promote lofty beliefs, but engage in the dirtiest practices.

They have a dense web of censorship and surveillance measures, isolating their people on a dark and desolate island, where all human rights are the most humble of maids, facing despotic rape, with no way to escape.

And the rulers on high have luxurious palaces, extravagant lives, wealth that rivals countries, and are above any law—even though those laws are made by themselves—unparalleled privileges. These privileges can be expressed as playboy driving luxury cars with special license plates, ignoring traffic laws; can be the verdict of raping young girls and then falsely accusing them of prostitution; can be the contrast between the luxury of government office buildings and the simple dwellings of the people; can be the steady profit-making in the business world only because there are dignitaries from all walks of life escorting them, an endless stream of benefits.

The people have almost forgotten the taste of butter, but the head of state can use special trains to satisfy their 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 this, but they can't have opinions, otherwise, what awaits you is a terrifying black bag.】

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

"It really is just a movie review," Feng Bujue sneered. "I still maintain that the people who overreacted to this are guilty as hell."

"Is that so? It's the first time I've seen someone use phrases like... [The pigs who indulge in pleasure, mocking, laughing, cowardly, fearing.] in the last paragraph of a movie review," Ouyang Jian took the tablet back to his eyes. "If it weren't for the fact that you haven't taken any substantial action yet, and this 'movie review' does mention some of the plots in the movie, I'm afraid we would have to talk through bulletproof glass and iron bars with a microphone right now."

Jue-ge stretched lazily, using his hands as pillows, and leaned back on the sofa. "Okay, counselor. 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 in his hand to Feng Bujue.

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

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

"Huh?"

"What huh? You thought... your previous delays in submitting manuscripts, they're just going to let it go?" Ouyang Jian said, "Scroll down, I've marked all the places where you breached the contract in different colors."

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

"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 responded.

"No way, did she come looking for you?" Feng Bujue reacted instantly after saying this. "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 column, you only filled in Wang Tanzhi and Bao Qing," Ouyang Jian asked. "When did you fill in my name and contact information?"

"Of course, it was added after you left..." Feng Bujue continued. "I even added parentheses next to your name, noting that you were a 'lawyer'."

Ouyang Jian sighed to the sky. "You know... I'm considering a third option besides charging by the hour and charging a lump sum for clients like you..."

"What is it?" Jue-ge asked.

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

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

"Ha!" Ouyang Jian laughed dryly. "If I worked in a large multinational partnership, maybe making money would be as easy as pissing." He shook his head. "A small lawyer like me has to work 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, but worrying about the business of selling heroin..."

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

"There's nothing subtle about it, it's naked intimidation," Ouyang Jian said. "I personally think that implementing it on you is reasonable, justified, and legal." He praised with a look of ease. "Oh... so satisfying."

"Speaking of... that little girl is quite bold..." Feng Bujue thought about An Yueqin's appearance and muttered, "After suffering a loss at my place, she sang such a show for me three days later."

"In short, take care of yourself," Ouyang Jian took the computer back, put it in his bag, and said, "According to the contract, your 'Third-Rate Detective and Cat' has at least another year to go, right? When working under someone, be more restrained and don't cause trouble for yourself."

"It's just submitting the manuscript on time..." Feng Bujue stood up 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 go out and grab a bite together?"

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

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

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

"So that's the strange smell I've been smelling..." Ouyang Jian roared, "How did you manage to stay so calm the whole time!"

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