Master of Kaidan
Chapter 159: Libra in Action

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: Libra in Action

In July 2012, Bakerland still couldn’t be considered tranquil, although the "Antichrists," "Cultists," and "Rippers" were successively arrested, the story of the Demon Chef still echoed throughout the city.

Almost every day, housewives received visits from the Demon Chef; many of them made great progress in cooking and even started to become gourmet vloggers on online platforms, and the label "Disciple of the Demon Chef" temporarily became a code for wealth.

However, as this element became popular, many frauds inevitably appeared. In order to attract attention, they pretended to have encountered the Demon Chef, and each could vividly narrate their experiences. For a while, it was hard to distinguish the true from the false, and only those lucky ones who occasionally tasted "Youthful Cuisine" and succeeded in reversing their aging could verify their claims.

Later, as beauty vloggers discovered the code for wealth and joined the competition, the circle became even more difficult to discern between truth and lie. The original community forum that posted the legend of the Demon Chef was even acquired and upgraded by capital. Nevertheless, it was often overwhelmed by a huge number of visitors, and there were daily claims of Demon Chef sightings, accompanied by increasingly exaggerated photos of the dishes.

In the information age, traffic is wealth, and grasping the code for wealth could lead to a plentiful harvest. A second-rate newspaper specializing in various gossip news also seemed to want to ride the wave of popularity by suddenly serializing a novel with the "Demon Coin" as a lead.

The novel took the perspective of an interviewer, telling a story heard from a friend, starting with the past and present lives of a coin, and narrating the full process of an assassin organization from its birth, to prosperity, and then to decline, eventually sprouting anew from the ruins. The author’s wording and prose perfectly imitated the structure of an "interview style," even giving readers the impression that this was not a novel but an actual interview with a legendary assassin.

It goes without saying that the term "riding the wave of popularity" itself proves that popularity can be levered. The Demon Coin, already a hot topic in Bakerland, combined with decent writing and a story appealing to Victorian tastes, even caused a significant increase in newspaper subscriptions (including online subscriptions).

Even after the novel was completed, it was immediately sold on Amazon and in various well-known physical bookstores. Meanwhile, online, on television, and even in mainstream magazines, news about a book called "Libra Covenant" began to appear, with all kinds of celebrities lavishing praise and both acclaim and obviously biased criticisms flooding various platforms, as if not having read this book meant lacking confidence in conversation.

And under this terrifying wave of traffic promotion, some things were quietly happening:

Murders began to occur frequently across Victoria; most of the victims were criminals who had been convicted but lightly sentenced on the absurd ground of "giving them a chance to reform." Many were still serving sentences under tight security in prison, yet at the crime scenes, a card would be left behind. On the front of the card was a drawing of the Libra symbol, with a heart on one side and a gold bar on the other, while on the back was written Sherlock Holmes’s famous quote—

"When the law fails to bring justice to the individuals, personal revenge becomes justified and even noble from this moment on."

And this was precisely the method of assassination used by the Libra organization in the controversial novel.

If it were only one or two incidents, it might be called copycat crimes, but in less than two months’ time, hundreds of such cases had occurred, which inevitably led people to wonder if the Libra organization really existed...

...

"Hey? Old man, have you lost your mind? I just published a submission, yes! An anonymous submission, I don’t know who the author is.

"Ha? Why did I put effort into promoting that book? Isn’t it your fault?

"Nonsense! You told me to turn a tabloid into a top newspaper, what else could I do if not resort to these tricks?"

"The novel has heat, it’s a hot topic, and it’s well-written. I spent some pocket change to have people hype it up, and my newspaper’s sales soared, you know? Do you have any idea how much my newspaper’s sales increased?

"Compared to the recent ad revenue and royalties from that book, the money spent on promoting it is pocket change! Okay, okay, I get it, it’s pressure from above, right? No problem, go ahead and ban it, but I can still play the edges, right?

"No, I mean, it’s about creating a persona, yes, exactly! The old ginger is spicier indeed. That’s what I was thinking. After all, it’s too abrupt to switch from gossip news straight to reporting on wars. I’ll start by reporting on some domestic controversial cases, right, ride the heat wave. What if some of those cases I report on actually involve actions by the Libra organization? Wouldn’t I catch fire once again?

"Don’t be so serious, man. Even Tasoke Newspaper and Fierce Sun Newspaper are doing this kind of thing. I might be a little late to the game, but with the serial publication of ’Libra Covenant’, I should still be able to make a profit, huh. Can you shield me from some of the pressure on your end? You don’t want your daughter’s first commercial project to collapse like that, do you? Alright, love you to death! Goodbye!"

...

Jessica snapped her phone shut and then said to Feng Xue, who was standing not far away:

"That was my old man. Higher-ups are pressuring us, and they want to ban the book. It’s not that I can’t resist, but there’s no reason to. After all, I can’t exactly say I wrote the book, right?"

Hearing Jessica’s words, Feng Xue just grinned and said:

"No worries, actually, it’s a good thing it’s banned. Think about it: in history, any book that’s become banned only became more popular, right? Just wait and see, soon there will be plenty of unauthorized and pirated copies. Didn’t you sell the international rights already? Maybe in a while, there will even be reverse imports! It’s just a loss of some royalties—who cares about that?"

"That does seem to make sense." Jessica pondered carefully and realized there was nothing wrong with that line of thinking. As long as the story spread and the ordinary people knew about the existence of the Libra as a partner of justice, their goal would be achieved. As for royalties, they didn’t add up to her weekly allowance.

"Alright, you’re already falling far behind your junior brothers, begin training!" Feng Xue interrupted Jessica’s deep thoughts and clapped her hands to signal her to return to the center of the practice room—

This was originally Jessica’s home gym, but after training began, the fitness equipment was moved to the attic’s storeroom, leaving only an empty room covered with yoga mats for training.

"What do you mean, falling behind? I have to manage the newspaper and manipulate public opinion, not just train like they do..."

Jessica muttered with dissatisfaction, walking to the center of the room, but before she could finish her sentence, a strong sense of danger struck her head-on.

"Whoosh!" Jessica, who had the blessing of "Strong Body," immediately twisted into a gymnastic pose that even athletes would find difficult, dodging the invisible blow. However, two sharp sensations shot at her from different angles immediately after!

"Hey, hey, I’m not ready yet!" Jessica protested loudly as she dodged the invisible attacks with gymnastic moves while Feng Xue did not stop her assault of "Killing Intent," saying with a straight face:

"There’s no time for preparation in real combat. If you don’t want to die from a bullet you didn’t see coming, then concentrate! Also, during training, call me Instructor!"