enjoyebooks Chapter 61, Reasoning
Chapter 61, Reasoning
"Producer!"
Avoiding the exhibitors who were chatting and laughing in the middle of the road, Yan Xi called out softly.
She quickened her pace, trying to catch up with the figure that was about to be swallowed up by the crowd.
"Producer!"
She instinctively reached out, wanting to grab something, but then stopped behind him, within easy reach.
Chung Ai turned to talk to him, then struck up a conversation with the staff in front of the booth, her expression normal and showing no sign of nervousness at having entered a large group of demons; Du Lingyi, on the other hand, searched around without any attempt to hide it, staring at everyone's face as if she were openly writing down the words "I'm looking for someone".
Cheng Chen stood still, like a parent with children, quietly watching them go about their business.
The more I follow them, the less I know what I should do.
The more confused they felt, the more their gaze unconsciously focused on Cheng Chen's back.
She didn't know when it started, but whenever she had free time, she would subconsciously look for him in the crowd.
A sense of loss quickly passed through Yan Xi's heart. She took a deep breath and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around him, stepped forward.
"Producer".
She tugged at his sleeve with her fingers.
Cheng Chen turned around.
"Um..." Yan Xi was at a loss, "Is today a practical training session? Like last time?"
Cheng Chen didn't answer, but just looked at her quietly.
"...What are you looking at?" Yan Xi asked weakly.
"It's up to you," he replied.
Yan Xi was so speechless that she almost couldn't speak.
Fortunately, she caught a glimpse of small cakes that exhibitors were handing out to guests for free, so she quickly picked one up and offered it to them with both hands.
Cheng Chen casually took the small cake.
Just then, he noticed that Zhong Ai, who was not far away, quietly withdrew her gaze from him and pretended to be focused on talking to the staff.
Cheng Chen frowned almost imperceptibly.
From the moment they met today, Zhong Ai's gaze had been lingering on him, sometimes close, sometimes distant. Unlike Yan Xi's clear and unambiguous look when he looked at him, Zhong Ai's gaze was scrutinizing, as if he were hiding some secret and observing whether Zhong Ai would notice.
There was no doubt that Zhong Ai was hiding something from him.
Compared to him, the idiot who is now cautiously looking at him with expectant eyes can only be considered a harmless little girl.
Yan Xi didn't notice that he was absent-minded.
After successfully feeding the baby, she nervously clenched her fingers. "Producer, I actually want to apologize to you. I ran away suddenly without discussing it with you beforehand. That was too willful and caused trouble for the company... I'm sorry."
He responded gently, "No need to apologize, what's past is past."
"oh."
Yan Xi lowered his head.
Before meeting Cheng Chen, she had so much to say to him.
But when the opportunity to strike up a conversation actually came up, aside from the formulaic "I'm sorry," I didn't know how to start the conversation.
"Um... congratulations."
I racked my brains trying to find a topic, but by the time I actually said it, I already regretted it.
Yan Xi tried to keep her smile natural: "When I ran into Cang Qing last time, the producer invited her, right? It's so great that she's joining the company now. Miss Cang Qing is more suitable than me... Her debut will definitely be no problem."
Cheng Chen stopped chewing and turned to look directly at her.
Yan Xi was immediately at a loss and turned her face away.
"The...producer?"
"Is this your true feeling?" Cheng Chen asked.
"What?"
"She's a better fit than you; welcome her to the company," or similar phrases.
"Uh haha, of course! Miss Cang Qing is a magical girl who is better than me. Joining the company means that I can also have a better role model to learn from, so..." Yan Xi herself didn't know what she was saying.
Cheng Chen sighed, reached out and placed his hand on her head, gently rubbing it.
"Don't force yourself; you're not suited to faking a smile. If you feel uncomfortable, just say so openly, and you can get angry at me."
"How could I do that?"
Yan Xi muttered something under her breath.
As soon as he finished speaking, the touch of that hand moved away from his head, and Cheng Chen stepped forward to join Zhong Ai and Du Lingyi.
"Did you find anything?"
He calmly asked the two of them.
Du Lingyi turned around first and shook her head.
Zhong Ai frowned and whispered to him, "There are many demons here, but we haven't found any clues related to 'Night Owl'."
"Go on," Cheng Chen nodded to her.
"As we've come this far, about thirty-three different demon organizations have set up booths at the venue, selling all sorts of things. There are materials from calamity beasts, faded wands, magical tools made with alchemy magic, and even professional teams that simply accept private hires. And these things have one thing in common," Chung Ai said.
"No contraband."
Du Lingyi suddenly added the second half of the sentence.
It was a trade fair between demons, and among all the goods displayed at the venue, there were no prohibited items. It was like eating at a seafood buffet but not having any fish.
"Hmm, very perceptive."
Cheng Chen nodded in satisfaction.
From the time they entered until now, it has only been a dozen minutes at most. To be able to detect the abnormality in such a short time is the level that an excellent magic girl should have!
"Our tickets were arranged by the company."
Cheng Chen waved the exhibitor badge in his hand, "But it wasn't in the company's name. Instead, it was obtained through several layers of disguise, under the name of the demon organization 'Yecheng.' 'Yecheng' is a disguise that the company's tactical execution department has been operating for many years, and it has never been used before."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across their faces: "So, which part do you think went wrong?"
"We've been exposed."
"This is not a real trade fair."
Zhong Ai and Du Lingyi spoke almost simultaneously, and then frowned almost simultaneously after speaking.
Cheng Chen smiled at them and asked, "Have you realized what's happening?"
It wasn't until yesterday, after Zhong Ai and Cheng Chen proposed investigating "Mo Mao Ju," that the company's intelligence analysis department began collecting relevant clues.
In such a short time, the other party immediately learned of their whereabouts and reacted, almost openly stating that there was a mole in Yinfu Entertainment.
"Suppose there are people in the company who are colluding with 'Mo Mao Ju' and they know that Yin Fu Entertainment is collecting information about them. The normal reaction would be to mislead the investigation results, disguise and cover up their existence, and lead us to other places, rather than blatantly exposing the mole."
Cheng Chen calmly scanned the entire exhibition hall.
"Also, take a closer look at these people here—is this really not a trade fair?"
With over thirty demon organizations and hundreds of demons of varying ranks present, if Mo Mao Ju had the ability to command such a powerful force, or even the extravagance to treat them merely as actors in a fake trade fair, he might as well just conquer Yin City and even the entire Southern Federation directly. Why bother hiding his true identity?
"...Isn't the organizer behind this trade fair MoMaoJu?"
Just moments later, Zhong Ai reached a new conclusion.
Assuming that Mo Mao Ju knew Cheng Chen was investigating them, then their arrival here was likely a deliberate misrepresentation by the other party.
"Is this a case of shifting blame? Are the organizers here rivals of Mo Mao Ju? Do they want us to cause trouble for their rivals?" she pondered seriously.
"Then how do you explain that there isn't a single contraband item in such a huge trade fair? Are all the demons law-abiding citizens? Or does the sworn enemy of Mo Mao Ju also know we're coming?" Cheng Chen retorted.
Zhong Ai was stunned and fell silent.
Du Lingyi slowly began to speak: "The source of information for 【Kaleidoscope Prison】 is not the municipal government, but an independent investigation. The teacher's investigation results cannot be wrong. If the information handed over to the producer also mentions this place... it means that both pieces of information are correct."
Zhong Ai looked at her.
Cheng Chen smiled again: "Then another question arises."
If the intelligence is correct, this is indeed the trade fair hosted by MoMaoJu. And the analysis just now was also correct; the other party does know they are investigating them.
Given these two conditions, what does it mean that the other party still opened the door and let them in?
This means it's a carefully laid trap.
Zhong Ai instantly came to a conclusion, and her heart skipped a beat.
She recalled Jingwei's "plan"—the person who led Cheng Chen here was herself.
However, Cheng Chen's next words were subtly different from her conclusion.
"That means the owner here is extending an invitation." He didn't look over, which made Zhong Ai breathe a slight sigh of relief, but her heart quickly tightened again. "The purpose of holding a trade fair is for trading. It seems that Mo Mao Ju has business they want to discuss with me, right?"
The voice just fell.
A path parted from the bustling crowd of guests ahead, and a man in a suit stepped forward, bowing politely.
"Please excuse our wicked master, our lord invites you to come in."
……