Chapter 130: Chen Hao Terrified Out of His Wits

"There are several reasons for this!" Chen Hao said with conviction. "First and foremost is my identity. As the eldest young master of the Chen family, I possess a powerful safeguard. While I wouldn't dare claim my father's status rivals that of your family's patriarch, he is, at the very least, a patriotic businessman who has contributed much to the nation.

"He maintains significant connections and relationships across various industries, including military and political circles. Out of respect for my father, you wouldn't take action against me lightly. Furthermore, you mentioned earlier that your patriarch holds my father in high regard. While I don't know your patriarch's exact identity, I am certain he must be an extraordinary figure. I believe that with this connection, you wouldn't want to do anything that would cause unpleasantness for everyone."

Guo Yunhai nodded. "That much is reasonable. What else?"

"Second! We may have started off on the wrong foot, and our meeting was anything but pleasant. Although we are sitting here now talking quite happily, I am certain that deep down, you still feel a bit unconvinced by me. At the very least, you hope to cross swords with me again and defeat me! Am I wrong?" Chen Hao maintained his confident expression.

Guo Yunhai nodded without reservation. "I'm a straightforward man; I admit I do have that thought."

"See!" Chen Hao looked as if he had expected this. "Since you want to spar with me again, you must ensure my freedom and safety. If you were to arrest me, while I wouldn't worry about my safety, my freedom would be out of the question. Besides, if I were taken in by you, I doubt the person interrogating me would be you. And if it weren't you, you couldn't guarantee my freedom, let alone spar with me! Therefore, you won't arrest me!"

"How do you know the person interrogating you wouldn't be me?" Guo Yunhai asked, surprised.

"Heh!" Chen Hao laughed. "Through our contact during this time, I can say with certainty that you aren't a professional interrogator, or at least you haven't received professional, systematic training. If you were, you would never have revealed so much information to me during our previous conversation. A professional interrogator always tries to extract as much information as possible from the suspect, rather than telling the suspect what they know. Even if they do, it's usually a game of cat and mouse—the information given is either false or serves as bait with no real value. Yet, just now, before I even opened my mouth, you told me everything you've encountered over the past few days. This is proof enough that you aren't that kind of person."

"Fair point!" Guo Yunhai slumped, looking defeated and dejected.

"I'm not finished yet!" Chen Hao was becoming increasingly animated, clearly enjoying Guo Yunhai's reaction.

"There's more?" Zhuge Taxue felt a bit of sympathy for Guo Yunhai.

"The most important point is that I've discovered we are the same kind of people!" Chen Hao explained. "We both belong to that category of people whose curiosity knows no bounds. We are full of intense interest in unknown, novel things. I wouldn't say we are completely reckless, but at the very least, we are the type who dares to cross certain boundaries to satisfy our curiosity.

"That's not meant as an insult; it means we are adept at being flexible. Just like today, Yunhai, you flew here specifically to see your sweetheart. After flights were grounded, you actually called in a small helicopter to take you into the no-fly zone. Even if that wasn't a military aircraft, I'd bet it was a private plane provided by your family's patriarch, wasn't it? You just took it and used it; this shows that your patriarch thinks quite highly of you. At the very least, he must favor you."

Guo Yunhai pursed his lips, not speaking, which served as an admission.

"As for me... although I am the only heir to the Chen family, I haven't inherited the family business. Typically, wealthy heirs like me would join the family enterprise after graduation and take up some official post. If we have talent, we are carefully groomed. If we don't, we spend our lives as rich kids, living off annual dividends. But I didn't choose that path. After graduation, I risked defying my father's wishes to work for someone else, starting from the very bottom. My goal was to satisfy my own curiosity. It's just... that curiosity remained unsatisfied for nearly five years, right up until the moment I resigned."

"Pfft!" Zhuge Taxue interjected, "Then you really are a failure! If I were you, I'd rather just take a cushy job at the family company!"

"Ahem!" Chen Hao coughed awkwardly. "You probably wouldn't say that if you knew which company I worked for!"

"Oh?" Zhuge Taxue asked curiously. "Where did you work?"

"Phantom Corporation!" Chen Hao replied.

"Where?!" Zhuge Taxue's eyes widened. "Which company did you say? Phantom? I didn't mishear that, did I? Or are there other companies called Phantom in this world?"

"You heard me correctly. There is only one Phantom Corporation in this world. I am talking about the one that made its fortune with the virtual reality game, achieved massive success worldwide, and has now become a top-50 global enterprise spanning multiple fields," Chen Hao answered firmly.

"You... you... you went to work at Phantom Corporation? Doing what? You said it was to satisfy your curiosity? What were you curious about? Don't tell me you wanted to use your position to tamper with the game code and write hacks?"

"I..." Chen Hao was speechless. "Sister Taxue, what are you thinking? The virtual world has been online for so long; have you ever heard of a single instance of a hack? Also, do you play virtual reality games? You seem very knowledgeable about this!"

"What? Is it strange for a girl to play games?" Zhuge Taxue looked at Chen Hao with dissatisfaction. "What exactly were you curious about?"

Chen Hao certainly didn't think it was strange for girls to play games; after all, there are just as many female gamers as male ones these days. Because of this, the number of 'fake' accounts in various game worlds has dropped significantly, a fact Chen Hao was quite pleased about. He just hadn't expected the owner of a traditional-style teahouse living in Crystal to be a fan of video games.

However, seeing Zhuge Taxue's avant-garde style, Chen Hao relaxed and replied, "Actually, it's nothing much. I was just curious about how Phantom Corporation managed to research and create such a surreal game. I wanted to know how the game was actually made. That's why, after graduation, I applied to the technical department of Phantom Corporation."

"And the results weren't successful?" Guo Yunhai asked.

"More than just unsuccessful! Everything went beyond my expectations. The work of a technician at Phantom was exhausting. Not only did I have to work eight hours from Monday to Friday, but I also had to work overtime on Saturdays and Sundays, often until two or three in the morning. Every time I finished overtime, I was tired and hungry. And that wasn't all—after work, I would be exploited by my unscrupulous colleagues to treat them to meals, only to have to continue working overtime the next morning.

"Although the pay and benefits were good, I didn't go there for the money. If I wanted money, I could have just gone to my own family's company. I went there to figure out how the game was produced and developed. But after working for so long, while my title was 'technician,' I was actually just a janitor responsible for deleting and repairing junk data generated by the game. I never touched anything related to development or design. It was only later that I realized the people responsible for the game's production and development were high-level internal employees whom I couldn't reach at my level. I resigned recently because I felt my curiosity wouldn't be satisfied if I stayed. But I never expected that on the very day I resigned, I would come into contact with a high-level employee. Fate is truly ironic..."

"You're talking about Dong Xin, right?" Guo Yunhai blurted out naturally.

As soon as he said it, Zhuge Taxue's ears perked up. "Hm? Dong Xin? That sounds like a woman's name, right? And she's someone from Chen Hao's company. Why would you know her, Big Guy? And your reaction is so intense. Could it be... that she is the sweetheart whose name you've been refusing to tell me?"

Guo Yunhai covered his face in agony. "Damn it! I let it slip!"

Chen Hao couldn't understand why Guo Yunhai's reaction was so strong. "So you let it slip, what does it matter? Aren't you two good friends? Yunhai, why wouldn't you tell Taxue? You aren't a couple, so you don't have to worry about her being jealous. Also, now that I think about it, since you two are so close, why didn't you ever get together? Why do you like Dong Xin?"

Guo Yunhai sighed mournfully. "I admit Taxue is beautiful, perhaps the best-looking girl I've ever seen. But she isn't my type. Compared to Dong Xin, she is just too frail. I'm such a big guy; if we were really together, it would be incredibly awkward. Plus, she doesn't know any martial arts at all. If I wasn't careful on our wedding night, I might just crush her..."

Zhuge Taxue didn't care about Guo Yunhai's crude joke at all and just rolled her eyes.

Then, Guo Yunhai said something that made Chen Hao fall flat on his rear.

"And the most important point is, this girl Taxue..."

"What about her?" Chen Hao asked.

"She's a lesbian!"