Ring, ring, ring.

The door of the Third-Rate Writer Bar swung open once again.

Shang Jianyue walked in from outside.

"My friend is here, sorry, fellow writers, I need to leave."

Han Zhan saw Shang Jianyue and turned his head to speak.

"However, to thank you all for letting me see such ’amazing’ novels, today’s drinks are on me."

Han Zhan’s last sentence elicited unexpected delight on the faces of the three third-rate writers.

"That is such a gentlemanly thing to do, praise to you." Pemberton’s two tufts of golden mustache lifted with great enthusiasm as he generously complimented.

"That’s too generous, bro! Please tell me your name, and I’ll change the name of my book’s protagonist to yours. As for the previous protagonist, I’ll wish him luck!" Vasily said excitedly.

"Generous, pure, true, beautiful, handsome, young, wealthy, glorious, endlessly brilliant and radiant..." Hua Sheng rattled off ninety-nine adjectives in one breath.

Luckily, being a cyber AI, he didn’t have to worry about holding his breath for too long.

But those adjectives of his, much like those in his books, were beyond words.

After a simple nod of acknowledgment with the three.

Han Zhan walked over to Shang Jianyue’s table and sat down.

"Know them?" Shang Jianyue, who had seen the scene just now, casually asked when Han Zhan came over.

"No, just met them recently."

"That cyber life is quite interesting. It seems he has a gemstone with life within him, providing him with endless energy."

Shang Jianyue squinted slightly and said.

"However, his mechanical parts are somewhat old and lacking in finesse, showing signs of shoddy craftsmanship. Tsk, this might cause the intelligence system to ’dull’. Not very professional."

"You’re right." Thinking of Hua Sheng’s AI-written serialized novel, Han Zhan agreed without reservation.

Back to the main point.

"Let’s swap the information we’ve collected over the past few days, or if there’s anyone or anything worth suspecting." Han Zhan steered the conversation back to business.

Shang Jianyue nodded and snapped his fingers.

A simple electronic report was handed to Han Zhan.

"Take a look at mine first; everything is organized."

In this respect, Shang Jianyue was still quite reliable.

Han Zhan nodded and carefully read through Shang Jianyue’s report.

In Shang Jianyue’s report, he primarily recounted his experiences over the past few days and some observations in the gambling arena.

The gambling arena and the Life Span Boxing Ring have many similarities, such as in the classification of toolmen.

When Shang Jianyue first entered the gambling arena, he was assigned the position of level 1 server.

For any normal person, this would be a hell-level difficulty, but for Shang Jianyue, it was like child’s play.

In the face of absolute mathematical calculation, all probabilities became insubstantial.

"The person in charge of the gambling arena is an intelligent mechanical life from the Cyber Star Cluster, and unlike me, he chose the path of Intelligent Mechanical Wisdom Dao, while I chose the Human Virtual Dao."

"So he discovered your presence on the first day." Han Zhan commented while reading the report.

Shang Jianyue nodded lightly.

"Yes, I was only a level 1 server for one day before he promoted me to the level 5 general manager of the gambling arena, reporting directly to him."

Han Zhan leaned back slightly and clicked his tongue. "He knows how to use people well. By doing so, he hands over the responsibilities to you, saving himself a lot of trouble."

"Indeed, but I’m not working for free." Shang Jianyue paused, "The Intelligent Mechanical Wisdom Dao and the Virtual Dao are different. As a pure cyber star cluster intelligent life, he’s gone further than I have on the Intelligent Mechanical Wisdom Dao."

"From him, I can get more data on the Intelligent Mechanical Wisdom Dao, expanding my own Virtual Dao and accelerating exploration."

In this way, even if he’s helping others every day, Shang Jianyue’s gains are much greater than imagined.

Truly worthy of being the Shang Family Ancestor who never takes a loss.

"As for strange people or things... I can’t think of any for now."

"However, since this is the gambling arena, large quantities of lifespan currency flow daily. Considering my sensitivity to numbers, I can conclude that a portion of the arena’s daily revenue in lifespan currency is being ’collected’."

Shang Jianyue spoke, pondering for a moment, and then replaced his previous words with a more straightforward explanation, "It’s a ’tax’; the gambling arena’s profits need to pay a certain ’tax’ to Paradise."

"As for the tax rate, it should be around 14%."

Pure Beauty Paradise, lifespan currency, tax.

When this line of thought came together, Han Zhan suddenly had a vague suspicion about the purpose of Pure Beauty Paradise in relation to Pure Beauty Star.

This, perhaps, is intricately linked to ’The End’."

"How about you? What’s happening on your side?" Shang Jianyue, having finished his story, asked Han Zhan in return.

"Unlike you, I’m still the most ordinary level 1 venue assistant at the Life Span Boxing Ring. However, I’ve discovered someone suspicious."

Han Zhan then shared his findings and suspicions about Luo Qiuhong with Shang Jianyue.

Upon hearing Han Zhan’s description, Shang Jianyue furrowed his brows in concern.

"So, according to you, Luo Qiuhong could be the ’pusher’ behind the End event?"

Han Zhan shook his head, "We can’t be entirely certain yet, but we can consider her a subject that requires attention and monitoring."

"Following her might lead us to more clues."

The exchange of information between the two concluded at this point.

After agreeing to meet again at the same place in three days, Shang Jianyue snapped his fingers and started to order food.

This is the advantage of choosing a bar as the meeting place; after discussing business, they can enjoy a simple meal.

"Waiter, do you have a server named Feng Xiaozao?" After ordering, Shang Jianyue asked casually.

"Ah, dear customer, indeed, Feng Xiaozao works here, but..."

"But what?" Shang Jianyue had asked casually, but upon hearing the waiter’s tone, he couldn’t help but ask further.

"However... she’s our manager, and if you wish to meet her, it might not be so easy."

Shang Jianyue: "???"

Han Zhan: "???"

The two exchanged glances, and both saw a hint of disbelief in the other’s eyes.

The two of them managed to get where they were with their skills.

How could Feng Xiaozao become the manager of the Third-Rate Writer Bar in just a few days? Could she also have some outstanding abilities?

"Could you notify her, please, and tell her that there are two friends outside who would like to see her?" Shang Jianyue added.

The waiter nodded, "Alright, I’ll convey the message to our manager right away."

Meanwhile, inside the manager’s office of the Third-Rate Writer Bar.

Feng Xiaozao stared at the massive debt in her hands, shocked and incredulous.

That debt note had a digit followed by eight zeros!

Total debt: nine billion lifespan currency!