Shen Hao immediately understood what the man meant. "Oh, I saw it. I saw it..."
He looked at Xia Bing, who introduced the man. "This is Sun Wanli, the head of our Alliance Guild's Zhongzhou Branch. You can call him Chairman Sun."
"Chairman Sun, you were amazing just now! Thank you for saving me. If it weren't for you, I really would have died here."
Shen Hao spoke with such a serious expression that there was no sign he was acting. It was as though everything he said were true.
Sun Wanli nodded in satisfaction. "Good, good. You're a teachable young man."
Killing an elder of the Blood Banquet Guild was a major achievement. If Shen Hao said he hadn't seen it, who would get the credit?
It would be such a waste to give up credit for something so big.
So he absolutely couldn't say he hadn't seen it.
Xia Bing looked at Sun Wanli, her expression somewhat awkward.
She knew Sun Wanli could be unreliable, but she hadn't expected him to be this unreliable.
Wasn't he openly leading a newcomer astray?
"You two did quite a bit yourselves," Sun Wanli said with a sly smile. "Don't worry, I'll mention you in my report to the higher-ups.
"We can say... say the three of us killed him together!"
"Guildmaster, isn't that wrong?"
Xia Bing looked helplessly at Sun Wanli. She had always been conscientious, responsible, fair, and upright in her work. Now that she was supposed to go along with Sun Wanli's wrongdoing, she found it hard to accept.
Sun Wanli tried to persuade her. "Xia, you're good in every way, but you're too rigid.
"Think about it. If we don't claim credit for something this big, won't the other branches snatch it up?
"If we report it truthfully, we'd be saying we don't know who killed Jiang Zhennan. Wouldn't that prove we're incompetent and can't even keep track of what's happening on our own turf?
"Are you sure the higher-ups won't blame us for neglecting our duty?"
For a moment, Xia Bing didn't know how to argue back. Sun Wanli pressed his advantage.
"Think about it some more. Young Brother Shen risked his life to help us draw Jiang Zhennan out. He nearly died. Is it too much to ask the higher-ups for a little credit?
"And then there are our other colleagues. They work so hard, diligently carrying out their duties every day. Once we get the credit, they'll get some benefits too.
"If you don't cooperate with us, how can you face the rest of us?"
After all that, Xia Bing felt that if she refused, she would be letting the whole branch down. She had no choice but to nod.
Sun Wanli laughed. "That's more like it. The most important thing in life is to be flexible. You've got to be flexible, right?"
"Chairman Sun is right," Shen Hao said with a smile. "May I ask roughly how much the reward is?"
"The bounty on Jiang Zhennan is ten million. Of course, aside from the bounty, there are other rewards, such as extraordinary items and rank in the Alliance Guild.
"But if we split the rewards three ways, there won't be quite so much."
"That's still a lot," Shen Hao said.
What he valued most were the cash reward and the promotion in the Alliance Guild.
"Don't worry," Sun Wanli continued.
"When the time comes, I'll make sure the report describes both of your performances in a more impressive light.
"Of course, I'll still have to be the main contributor. You understand. It's not that I'm greedy for credit; it's mainly that it wouldn't seem believable otherwise."
Shen Hao had no objection. This really was a major achievement, and they couldn't just give up the credit.
But he certainly couldn't claim so much credit himself, so he was perfectly fine with letting Sun Wanli have it.
Xia Bing had no objection either. She hadn't intended to compete for the credit in the first place.
"All right, since neither of you objects, let's get our stories straight."
Based on the situation here, Sun Wanli quickly made up a story. It was so perfect that no one could find a flaw in it.
Shen Hao and Xia Bing both gave Sun Wanli strange looks. They were now certain that Chairman Sun had done this sort of thing plenty of times.
He was practically abusing his position for personal gain in broad daylight.
"Do you both remember it?" Sun Wanli asked.
"Anyway, only the three of us know what happened. Stick to this story when the time comes, and no one will find a hole in it."
"No problem," Shen Hao said with a nod.
He might be a Demon, but he had nothing against money.
Besides, after this, his personnel rank in the Alliance Guild would rise, giving him greater clearance and access to much more information.
No matter how he looked at it, there were only benefits and no drawbacks.
A smug smile appeared on Sun Wanli's face. Just then, they saw several cars arrive at the school gates one after another, with people continually getting out.
"They're here. They're from the other branches," Sun Wanli said.
"Let's go offer our congratulations to our colleagues."
What Sun Wanli called "offering congratulations" looked like nothing but showing off to Shen Hao. He animatedly recounted how Jiang Zhennan had been killed, leaving the guildmasters of the other branches looking thoroughly displeased.
Everyone had set the trap together, and every branch had contributed. Yet because they were just a little late, they hadn't managed to get any credit at all.
And from what Sun Wanli was saying, he didn't intend to leave them even a sip of soup.
The branch guildmasters felt terrible.
They couldn't help cursing Jiang Zhennan for dying too quickly. How much better would it have been if he had died a little later?
Sun Wanli paid no attention to what the other branch guildmasters thought and went on talking.
"Don't be discouraged, everyone, and don't envy me. It was just one mission. If you didn't get any credit this time, there's always next time. There will be plenty of opportunities.
"Besides, I was just a little luckier than the rest of you. There's really nothing to be envious of."
Sun Wanli was grinning almost from ear to ear. The people from the other guilds found it very unpleasant and announced one after another that they were leaving.
They swore they would never work with Sun Wanli again for the rest of their lives.
What was wrong with him? All he'd done was kill a Blood Banquet elder. It was just an A-rank achievement. What was there to be so proud of?
The sight of that petty man celebrating his success made them angry just thinking about it.
The guildmasters of the other branches felt nothing but bitterness as they drove away one after another.
Watching them leave, Sun Wanli smiled smugly.
Their Zhongzhou Branch's performance had always been average. Today, they had finally earned a major achievement and could hold their heads high for once.
After quite a while, Sun Wanli finally reined in the smug look on his face and spoke to Xia Bing.
"Those students are still unconscious. Make arrangements to send them to the hospital."
"I already took care of it."
Xia Bing thought that if they had waited for him to make arrangements, those students would have spent the whole night lying on the ground.
"Good. You're always conscientious about your work," Sun Wanli said.
Xia Bing didn't answer. It's not that I'm conscientious. You just don't take your work seriously at all.
Sun Wanli turned to Shen Hao. "Young Brother Shen, you did well today. Stick with me from now on, and you'll have a bright future."
After taking care of the aftermath, Sun Wanli drove Shen Hao home. Xia Bing was in the car too.
After Shen Hao left, Xia Bing asked, "Boss, are we just leaving it at that? There must be more to Jiang Zhennan's death."
"What is there to investigate?" Sun Wanli said. "Would it do us any good to find out?
"Sometimes you have to play dumb. There's no need to get to the bottom of everything. Even if you did uncover the truth, so what?"
After a while, Sun Wanli suddenly said, "Give me a copy of that Shen Hao's basic information. Also, have someone look into his past."
"Do you think he killed Jiang Zhennan?" Xia Bing asked in surprise.
"I don't know, but he's under level ten, and he survived an encounter with Jiang Zhennan. That shows there's more to him too.
"But what Thriller Paradise player doesn't have a few secrets?
"I don't care about that, and I don't care who killed Jiang Zhennan.
"I'm only having you investigate Shen Hao as a routine background check. He contributed today, and he'll be one of the people our branch focuses on developing from now on."
"Mm, I think he's quite good too. When I recruited him, I wanted him to join my team, but he flatly refused."
"It's fine. I'll transfer him over," Sun Wanli said. "Let him work under you for now, and we'll promote him gradually later.
"Such a promising talent would go to waste in the Internal Affairs Department."