“I’ll propose two plans first so that you can understand the gist of these plans,” Drizzle said.
“The first is a rather normal promotional operation. Naturally, we will be talking about your harvesting skills. I heard that you shot to fame in the harvesting circle and mastered some really shocking skills. It would then be best for you to set up a few harvesting broadcasts and perfectly harvest some rare materials from furious creatures.
“As long as you’re confident that your harvesting skills are interesting, with Drizzle Studio pushing the tides, we will definitely be able to make Superstar Resource Recovery Company even more famous.”
Meng Chao thought about it and said, “I’m definitely confident in my harvesting skills, but it all depends on luck as to whether I can find rare materials in a monster’s body. The probability of running into rare materials is the same for newbies and skilled harvesters.”
“We can control your luck when it comes to this.” Drizzle smiled. “Even if there aren’t any rare materials in a monster’s body, can’t you put some beforehand?”
Meng Chao was stunned for a moment, then began to think about it.
Drizzle explained, “There aren’t that many rare materials in the world. Many of the hunters and harvesters do this to make a name for themselves. They first place a really rare material into the body of a monster that might contain this material, then harvest it in front of a crowd.
“A lot of organizations that need to get a professional rank or junior professionals who want to be promoted to intermediate professionals are just like you and need to increase their fame as quickly as possible. This is nothing. Of course, this matter will take time, and the capital required for it is rather high. After all, you won’t often be able to harvest rare materials that only have a one in a million chance of appearing. And if you do it too frequently, it’ll be too obvious, right?”
“Yeah,” Meng Chao said. “Judging by your words, there is a plan that will take a shorter time and requires a lower capital, but will be able to make my company and me famous very quickly?”
“Honestly, you’re already famous. When Yan Organization worked together with us, we set up your public image and promoted you. Now, the problem is, how are we supposed to connect your public image with Superstar’s image?
“I have a rather radical plan with me: Cause trouble at a material exchange fair.”
Meng Chao cocked his eyebrows. “Cause trouble?”
“Not real trouble, of course,” Drizzle said. “It’s the type where you pretend to be a loser to catch your target, where you pretend to be weak so that you can hit others where it hurts. Do you know how to do that?
“You should be really good in this area. I heard that while still in highschool, you embarrassed Poison Hand Liao Santong’s grandson by going to appraise a rare material during a material exchange fair. Unfortunately, the media wasn’t there at that time, or this sort of news that most citizens love reading about would have spread through the city a long time ago.
“But that’s fine. You have us now!
“Think about it. If you keep a low profile when you attend some material exchange fair next time, you’ll be looked down upon. But when a certain item that no one is able to identify appears, suddenly, you will speak about it and shock everyone with your skills. At this time, some media company we’re familiar with in the area will write a news article about this event.
“If you look for some rich man’s son just like you did during the material exchange fair in the third year of your high school and stand on opposite sides with him before you embarrass him, it’ll be even easier for us to write the news article. In the long run, Superstar Resource Recovery Company will definitely become famous, and everyone will know about your company.
“But of course there are side effects to this sort of publicity. Still, the business field is like a battlefield. When you face a major profit, there will be a lot of competitors. Even if you don’t embarrass each other, you will still end up fighting against each other, yes?”
“Yeah.” Meng Chao thought about it. “But how am I supposed to make sure that no one is able to recognize a certain material during a material exchange fair but I can?”
Drizzle smiled and said, “That’s easy. If this material is provided by you, you’ll be able to say where it came from.”
“…” Meng Chao sucked in a sharp breath. “Listening to you is better than trying to read PR books. Today, I finally understand that there are actually a lot of twists and turns in this circle.”
Drizzle smiled at him. “We’re in a different profession, so it feels like we’re worlds apart. You’re focused on hunting monsters and harvesting, so it’s normal that you don’t understand the inner workings of this field.
“Nowadays, you won’t be able to rise to the top by just working hard. Creating sensational news is a very neutral thing. As long as you’re skilled, the sensational news will make your fame rise quickly. It will also make your abilities clear to the public. I don’t see a reason against it.”
“Alright. I’ll think about your suggestions carefully. I also would like it if you would visit Superstar Resource Recovery Company to make a more detailed public image and promotional plan according to our circumstances.”
Meng Chao sat on the sofa in a very comfortable manner and looked at the time before he asked casually, “Mr. Drizzle, how many years have you been working in this field? I heard that your studio is pretty famous.”
“Seven or eight years.” Drizzle smiled in a very confident manner. “Drizzle Studio might not compare to some of the large online mass media companies, but when it comes to skills and strength, we have a lot of good comments from our clients. The most important thing about promotion is that you don’t reveal your tracks. We spread the information we want to project to the target consumers’ hearts like a drizzle, making it silently nourish their hearts like a piece of land. This is the goal we have been pursuing all this while.”
When he said this, he seemed to feel a little hot, for he instinctively tugged at his shirt collar.
His breathing quickened, and his pupils widened a little.
He did not notice that his mind was a little off.
Due to his mouth feeling dry, he drank the tea in one go.
Meng Chao poured another cup for him and continued, “Allow me to ask you a rather sensitive question. Does your studio ever do something that goes past morality and law when performing some rather radical promotions?”
Drizzle smiled. “Are you asking about us abandoning morals or ignoring the law? Based on what I know, the limits for the two are different. We’re good citizens who obey the law. We will never break laws.”
After he said that, he looked slightly stunned, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
It seemed like he himself could not understand why he would be so outspoken to Meng Chao, a client he just met.
“Got it.” Meng Chao nodded. He seemed to be very satisfied with Drizzle’s answer and poured a third cup of tea for him. “Then, could you talk about the successful cases, such as how you managed to leak the case of the murderous pets in Blessed Paradise to stir up the conflict between the biochemical modification and runic symbol machines factions?
“The article you posted was enlightening, and it showed you standing on the side of the runic symbol machines faction while you criticized biochemical modification technology. You also mentioned in your article that there is a possibility for artificial intelligence to go out of control. You terrified me, a student from Agricultural University, and cold sweat broke out on my back!”
Drizzle’s smile froze on his face.
But it was not due to panic. It was due to slight puzzlement.
This puzzlement spread out from his mouth to his entire face like ripples on cement.
“What did you give me?” He stared at the cup. “What was there in the cup?”
“Poison extracted from a Hallucinogenic Lizard. I also added some other stuff from a special formula. Don’t worry, it will just cause temporary paralysis to your nerves. You will recover within half an hour, and there won’t be any side effects,” Meng Chao said with a smile.
“But within this half an hour, you might have a hard time controlling the nerves and muscle fibers on your face which take care of your microexpressions. In other words, this is something similar to a truth serum.”
This was something Meng Chao had learned in the Ghost Tribe training camp.
As he fought in continuous battles, more memory fragments of his previous life gradually returned to him. Aside from Walking Corpse and Bizarre Stab, he remembered other deviant methods to do things as well.
“Oh.”
“You don’t seem too surprised. You aren’t panicking either,” Meng Chao said.
“I was a little panicked in the beginning, because I didn’t know what you were thinking of doing. But since this is a truth serum, there’s no need for me to panic.” Drizzle sighed. “Those in my field have insider information about a lot of our clients. There are often people who want to use us to pry into our clients’ secrets, but we have our own work ethics. We never reveal others’ secrets easily. But you’re the first to use this sort of method to launch a sudden ambush on me.”
“I’m sorry. This is a major matter. I didn’t want to use the worst method to ask you for information either.”
“It’s fine. But I will definitely not tell you any of my clients’ information.”
“It doesn’t matter. I already have a few answers that I’m confident in. I just want to verify those answers with you. You drank the poison from the Hallucinogenic Lizard. Even if you resist telling the truth, you won’t be able to control your microexpressions,” Meng Chao said. “For example, just now, when I mentioned the case of the murderous pets in Blessed Paradise, your expression betrayed you. It let me know that you’re the one who leaked the information online.
“Of course, you’re just a tool, and one which is very skilled in wandering around the limits of law and the limits of morals. I’m not interested in you. I’m just interested in the person who hired you to do it.
“I know you won’t tell me, but you don’t have to. I’ll just guess.
“You revealed detailed information about the case, and you talked about a lot of details regarding the three biochemical pets that were examined that day. Only the monster research center, Spirit Creation Creatures, and Heavenly Works Machines were in contact with those details.
“The monster research center took a neutral stance in this matter, so we can set them aside for now.
“Heavenly Works Machines might appear to have the best motive because they wanted to use the pressure of public opinion to squash Spirit Creation Creatures, but they’re the guilty party. Once the needle-shaped holes were discovered in the pets’ ear canals, they would not want to cause a fuss.
“Spirit Creation Creatures might seem to have little reason to leak the case, because that would mean that they would be slinging mud on their own heads.
“But I’ve heard of the way Xie Xiaolei does things. Spirit Creation Creatures likes being unconventional and doing things that surprise others. If he was confident that the truth of the case would be revealed, it’s not necessarily a bad thing for him to be accused of a crime for a few days. After all, the case can increase Spirit Creation Creatures’ fame. Even though it is negative fame at first, once the tables are turned, the case will work in their favor, and Spirit Creation Creatures’ image will become really positive.
“So, it’s Xie Xiaolei, right?
“You don’t have to answer. Your expression has already answered the question for you.”