Chapter 179 - 176: Special Interview
"Hey, why are you two being such a drag?!"
The Monkey scratched its ears and cheeks at the side.
"Alright, you stupid monkey. Since they’re not willing, let’s just go."
Su Su, who had been watching the Monkey’s antics, said this, then directly activated the Secret Realm Technique on her arm. She and the Monkey blurred and vanished before Cui Ying and Mo Shaoge’s eyes.
Cui Ying and Mo Shaoge were still in shock, their minds a mess. They had just heard her words and didn’t even have a chance to open their mouths to explain before the two of them disappeared.
"Holy shit!! What did we just do?"
Mo Shaoge snapped out of it as if waking from a dream, while Cui Ying clawed at her face in frustration.
’They say monkeys are impatient, but how is that other mysterious person even more impatient than the Monkey?’
"Hahahahaha~~~"
The Monkey’s voice sounded again from behind them, near the company’s entrance.
"See? I told you this would be fun!"
It turned out the Monkey had just asked Su Su to play a prank on the two of them, and since Su Su found it amusing, she went along with it.
"Alright, alright, no more joking around. We’re guests, after all. Are you going to make us stand at the door all day?"
Su Su asked with a smile. She then tapped the main entrance, and the reinforced glass door swung open on its own.
...
The editorial department had moved to a new location and was much more spacious than before. However, they still preferred an open-plan office. Regardless of rank, no one had a private office, and everyone got along harmoniously.
The young man who had just gone to get the delivery was a newcomer named Zhao Xing, and he really liked this job.
The "Where the Nightingale Flies" editorial office was a bit special. The strange things they discussed were detailed and convincing, some even well-documented. Moreover, they all knew about a certain special department of the country.
This intrigued Zhao Xing, but he treated it as an office joke. After all, they never delved too deep, laughingly claiming they were bound by confidentiality agreements.
’What a vibrant team. They don’t haze the new guys, either.’
Zhao Xing took a pack of cookies from his delivery package. Just as he looked up, it was as if he’d been hit by an Immobilization Technique.
GULP.
A mouthful of saliva went down his throat. He didn’t dare move.
Behind his boss was a large monkey or gorilla, the size of a person, walking upright.
The musky smell was somewhat familiar. Wasn’t it the same scent he had smelled earlier at the elevator entrance?!
If you saw something like this on the street or elsewhere, you might think it was a cosplayer.
But the fake-looking ones are obvious at a glance. A giant, real macaque like this Monkey King was different. It looked extremely dangerous.
Beads of sweat appeared on Zhao Xing’s forehead. A creature this big could probably kill a person with a single bite or scratch.
He quietly turned his head to look at the other people in the editorial department. He had noticed the room had gradually fallen silent; the others must have noticed too.
But when he turned his head, he saw more than a dozen pairs of eyes all staring at him. A few female editors were grabbing the hands of the people next to them, too scared to move. Others were swallowing nervously, their tense gazes fixed on him.
’Looking at me? Why are they looking at me?’
The sweat on Zhao Xing’s forehead was now the size of soybeans. He saw the Count nod at him and make a gesture.
The wild animal’s musky scent was much stronger now. He could even feel hot breath behind him, and his neck tickled.
’I don’t even have a girlfriend yet! I’m still a virgin...’
His neck felt as if it had rusted in place. He was debating whether to lunge forward and run or to move sideways to avoid provoking the beast when he came face-to-face with the Monkey.
Sun Monkey had circled around to face Zhao Xing directly. The monkey’s face was less than a centimeter from the human’s.
If one had to describe the scene, it was like the part in *A Chinese Ghost Story 2* where Chishuu Ichiyou is accidentally paralyzed by Ning Caichen’s Immobilization Technique and frozen face-to-face with a zombie monster. He was truly sweating buckets.
"AHHHH~~~"
His nerves finally snapped. He let out a huge scream and collapsed backward.
"Hahahahaha~~ Ah~ Hehehehe~~~"
"Interesting, interesting! The human world is truly interesting, so much more fun than the mountains!"
The Monkey’s mocking laughter was no less terrifying than its appearance.
Just as chaos was about to break out in the editorial office, with some even considering calling the police...
"Ahem! Everyone, quiet down!"
Cui Ying stepped forward.
"Although we have confidentiality agreements, I’m sure information about Dawn has been circulating privately among us in the editorial department for some time now."
"So today, at my invitation, members of the Dawn Association are here for an exclusive interview with us. Let’s give them a warm welcome!"
Pin-drop silence. The editorial office was dead silent.
The Count even subconsciously cleaned his ears, wondering if he had misheard.
’When did Cui Ying invite them? Does she really have that much pull?’
Back at the elevator, before they even had time to fully react, Cui Ying and Mo Shaoge had decided they had to join Dawn. Only a fool would pass up such an olive branch. Didn’t you see how much effort Tao Xingzhi had put in just to get a meeting?
As a competent boss and a good friend, she naturally hoped her team members could also get a chance.
Su Su said she could give them a chance. Whether they succeeded or not would depend on their reactions and the Association’s evaluation. If they didn’t pass, a dedicated Magic Controller would help them "lose their memories."
...
A dozen minutes passed, taking them from a state of lingering shock to sitting in neat rows in the conference room.
The other veterans in the editorial department had long been aware of the Special Security Team and were alert to the changes happening in the world. They even knew a little about Dawn from what they could find online.
They had previously been thinking about how to cover the changes in the forest in their social media...
Only Zhao Xing remained pale. It wasn’t that he took that long to recover; it was because Sun Monkey seemed to have taken a liking to him and was now sitting right next to him.
’Holy mother of god, it’s the first time in my life I’ve seen a real demon.’
Demon. That’s what Zhao Xing had been thinking. But at the same time, besides fear, he felt a strong sense of excitement.
’I can’t believe all those strange things we talked about at the office are actually real!’
’This editorial office is so damn incredible! Not only does it have connections to a special government department, but it even knows real supernatural forces, or should I say, immortal sects?’
He felt as if he had unlocked "protagonist mode" after graduating. It was like the beginning of an anime protagonist’s story: submitting a resume without any hope, only to land a super awesome job.
From now on, his life would change, his career would soar, his power would skyrocket, he would marry a beautiful, rich woman, and reach the pinnacle of life!
This fantasy was further fueled by a bombshell introduction from Cui Ying and Mo Shaoge.
"Sun Wukong! You... you’re the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!!!"
Zhao Xing shot up from his seat, his face changing from deathly pale to flushed red as if by magic.
Besides Cui Ying, the remaining 16 people in the editorial department were also ecstatic.
There were few Huaguo People who didn’t know of Sun Wukong’s great name, and fewer still who didn’t worship him.
The subject of this exclusive interview was actually the Beautiful Monkey King, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!
Su Su, who was on the side, chuckled softly. The title of Beautiful Monkey King was truly renowned.
"He is Sun Wukong, that’s right, but he’s not yet qualified to be called a Great Saint. A rascal monkey like him isn’t worthy of being a Saint of Dawn right now!"
"What do you mean, ’rascal monkey’?! Just because I’m not worthy now doesn’t mean I won’t be in the future!"
The Monkey leaped onto the conference table, his excitement no less than Zhao Xing’s.
He stood up straight, his muscles stretching with his body, revealing an aesthetic different from that of a human.
"Since I, Old Sun, can inherit this name, I can also inherit that title in the future! Even my Mentor has high hopes for me!"
The amount of information in that sentence was staggering, sending the minds of everyone in the editorial department reeling.
Su Su’s heart gave a hard thump. Sun Monkey had used the word "inherit" twice in a row.
But no matter how much her mind was racing, she had to take care of business first.
After Cui Ying announced that the exclusive interview would begin with a personal narrative, Su Su took out a translucent, diamond-shaped Crystal and placed it on the table.
It was a modified device made from a giant crystal cluster from the Crystal Forest.
The Red Demoness had stored her own Magic Power inside and engraved numerous Techniques onto it, allowing it to activate a three-dimensional Illusion Realm.
"Our time is precious. We can’t go into all the details, so let this speak for me."
The beautiful object captured everyone’s attention. Su Su tapped it lightly, and a hazy light emanated from it.
Everyone’s eyes gradually went blank as they fell into a daze.
However, the view within their consciousness was completely different.
...
The group, including Cui Ying and Mo Shaoge, felt their heads spin for a moment before they regained their senses.
A cold wind blew past, making the seated group shiver uncontrollably.
"It’s so cold~"
Cui Ying opened her eyes and was shocked to find that the conference table was not in the office at all. A look at her surroundings made her heart pound.
"Everyone, wake up!"
There were 18 people at the conference table—the editorial staff plus Mo Shaoge—but Sun Monkey and Su Su were missing.
They all looked around. Besides the conference table and chairs, they were surrounded by a gray, desolate wasteland, and it was impossible to tell if it was dusk or dawn.
Under the gusting wind, the group, dressed only in summer clothes, felt colder and colder.
PS: First Chapter for Thursday.