Legal and Aboveboard!

October 1, 2002. Eastern Kingdom, Green Parasol Province, Greenwood City.

At four that afternoon, inside the lavishly decorated Jinmao Law Firm on the Torch Street shopping strip.

In the restroom.

Splash!

A handful of cold water hit Xu De's face, bringing him back to his senses.

He looked up.

A young, wet face stared back from the mirror. He froze, lost in thought.

After a long while, he finished sorting through two sets of memories and finally understood his situation.

"I've crossed into another world..."

Xu De had crossed into a parallel world, into the body of his 2002 self in the Eastern Kingdom.

In his previous life, he had worked in law as the chief legal officer of a top company. He had never made a mistake!

Until he met his final opponent: a drunk driver on the roadside.

The outcome was obvious. A narrow defeat.

And so he had crossed into his parallel-world self in 2002.

As for this world's Xu De...

"Graduated from Yandu University in 1999. After my internship, I returned to Greenwood City and joined Jinmao Law Firm."

"But not long after I joined, a team leader who'd been parachuted in through connections started targeting me for no reason."

"I'd planned to learn the ins and outs of Greenwood City's legal system before switching jobs, but then I got a stabbing pain in my chest at work..."

The next thing he knew, he was getting up from the restroom floor and standing at the sink.

"So I'm a lawyer now?"

Xu De considered it for a long moment, then breathed out.

"Good thing the laws are the same in both worlds."

The laws of this world in 2002 were largely the same as those of his previous world.

That saved him a week of hunting for legal loopholes.

As for why that was his first instinct... never mind.

I'm here now, so I might as well make the best of it. Being a lawyer isn't bad. It's close enough to my old field, and I could do a lot with it.

While Xu De was considering the finer differences between the two worlds...

A loud shout came from outside the restroom.

"Xu De! Xu De!"

"Where's Xu De? Where did he go!?"

The voice drew closer, until it was ringing through the lobby outside. It sounded familiar.

"Someone's looking for me."

Xu De paused, pulled out a tissue to dry his face, turned off the tap, and headed out.

Creak.

The restroom door opened, revealing the lobby.

Inside the lobby.

Several people in business attire had gathered.

"Where's Xu De? Where's he disappeared to in the middle of the day!?"

"Attorney Xu wasn't feeling well just now, so he went to—"

"What's wrong with him? If everyone did that, we might as well shut down the firm!"

Team leader Sun Hao spoke with obvious displeasure as he looked at the lawyers before him.

Their expressions soured, but given his position, one of them only muttered:

"What, would he only be happy if someone died at the firm?"

The voice was quiet, but Sun Hao caught it. He flared up and was about to lash out.

Just then.

Xu De's voice rang out.

"I'm here."

His voice echoed through the lobby, making everyone turn to look.

They saw him walking over from the restroom door.

Sun Hao swallowed his anger and shot the lawyers in front of him a glare.

Then he turned to Xu De with a beaming smile.

"Not feeling well, Attorney Xu?"

Xu De's expression did not change. "I'm fine."

This team leader was the well-connected hire who often made trouble for him. He was arrogant by nature.

"Glad to hear it."

Sun Hao smiled, then abruptly changed tack and handed him a contract. "Didn't you ask me to assign you a few cases the other day?"

"I looked into it. There aren't any criminal cases, but..."

"A client happened to come in today for a 'special consultation.'"

"The fee is a full seven hundred yuan."

"They're waiting for you in Reception Room 103. Sign the contract and head over. Don't keep the client waiting."

Seven hundred yuan did not sound like much.

But this was 2002. There were plenty of people who earned less than a thousand yuan a month.

Of course, what caught Xu De's attention most was not the money, but...

[Beep. One ordinary civil case detected. Accept?]

[Civil case reward: Small chance of randomly obtaining one ordinary skill from the client; high chance of receiving some gratitude coins.]

[Note: Reward quality increases with client satisfaction.]

For a moment.

A voice sounded beside Xu De's ear, and a pale-blue screen appeared before his eyes.

[Current status.]

[Name: Xu De]

[Age: 25]

[Gratitude coins: 0]

[Win rate: N/A]

[Cases accepted: None]

[Innate skills: None]

What... is this?

Xu De's eyes flickered. He glanced around and saw that no one else seemed to notice it, so he narrowed his eyes and kept studying it.

When he gave no answer, someone nearby spoke up.

"The special consultation in Room 103?"

Surprise crossed the other lawyers' faces. Then they frowned and folded their arms.

"Team Leader Sun, that doesn't seem right. Attorney Xu is so young. He..."

At that, Sun Hao's face darkened. He had seen Xu De take an interest.

"That's exactly why he should seize the opportunity!"

One lawyer frowned. "But the client in Room 103 has been coming back for a month. Isn't it a bit much to send Attorney Xu?"

Sun Hao replied:

"The previous lawyers just weren't capable. Attorney Xu is a top graduate!"

"Besides, he hasn't even said anything himself!"

When no one else spoke, Sun Hao turned to Xu De with a genial smile.

"What do you say, Attorney Xu?"

The interruption snapped Xu De out of his concentration on the screen.

He looked at the other lawyers, thought for a moment, then made a choice in his mind.

[Accept.]

[Civil case accepted!]

[Note: Do your best to satisfy the client!]

Xu De hesitated briefly at the pale-blue screen, then raised his head.

"I'll give the case a try."

With that.

Under everyone's gaze, he took the contract and signed his name.

Delight flashed across Sun Hao's face, along with a hint of gloating.

"Good! I knew a top graduate like Attorney Xu could handle it."

Sun Hao took a copy of the contract and headed for the finance office.

Once he was gone.

The other lawyers could no longer hold back.

"Attorney Xu, you shouldn't have taken this one. It's a real headache!"

Xu De thought for a moment and gave his reason.

"I've barely had any cases these past few months. If I turn this down, I'll be living on air."

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

With that.

He turned and headed toward Reception Room 103.

The lawyers watched him go. They seemed about to say more, but in the end, they could only sigh.

"Ah."

Tap, tap, tap...

Footsteps echoed through the quiet corridor.

Finally.

They stopped outside a reception room marked "103."

Xu De put his hand on the door handle and gave it a gentle push.

Creak.

The door opened.

The reception room was simply furnished: a sofa, a table, and a water dispenser in the corner.

As the door swung open, Xu De saw a man of about thirty seated on the sofa. He had a square face and wore a black suit.

His features were unremarkable, and a silver watch sat on his wrist.

Xu De's thoughts stirred, and he strode to the other side of the table.

"Hello. I'm Xu De, the lawyer handling your special consultation. You can call me Attorney Xu."

At the sound of his voice.

Zhang Hu opened his eyes. He paused when he saw the lawyer who had arrived, and his tightly knit brow eased a little.

"How should I address you?" Xu De asked, drawing his gaze back.

"Zhang Hu," he replied.

Xu De sat down on the sofa and briefly studied him before asking:

"Mr. Zhang, could you tell me again what you're seeking?"

Zhang Hu was silent for a long while. Then he took a deep breath and said in a low voice:

"My wife cheated on me..."

Xu De's eyebrows rose slightly at the very first sentence.

A marital dispute, then!

No wonder the firm had not resolved it in a month.

Cases like this were nothing but endless wrangling. No matter what you did, the client was never completely satisfied. The fee was low, too, yet the work could drag on forever!

Sun Hao had really handed him a hot potato...

Xu De sneered inwardly, but showed none of it as he looked at Zhang Hu.

"Please go on."

Zhang Hu nodded, clasped his hands, and stared at the floor as he spoke slowly:

"I met that bitch in college. We married after I graduated."

"After we married, I worked myself to the bone from dawn till late, and I never once asked her to get a job. She didn't even have to cook!"

"And then she went and hooked up with some gym rat, saying I didn't understand romance and was stiff and boring!"

"A while ago, her lover found out I own a food company..."

"Then he started egging that slut on to divorce me and take my money. He even contacted me behind her back and made me look at photos and videos of them together!"

"I couldn't accept it, so I filed a lawsuit. But..."

As he spoke.

Bang!

Zhang Hu slammed his hand down on the table, his chest heaving.

He struggled to hold back his anger and said in a low voice:

"The court told me cheating during a marriage is only a moral issue, not a crime. If I get divorced, I still have to give her half the money!"

"Just thinking about those two sneaking around behind my back—and now I have to give them money..."

"If I even hire someone to beat up the bastard so I can vent a little, I'm the one who'll end up in jail."

"It makes my blood boil!"

When he finished, he turned to Xu De, his face dark with anger.

"I can't accept this!"

Xu De understood, but he could only shake his head.

"Your case is difficult."

"Under the law, your wife is entitled to a share of the marital assets in a divorce even if she cheated, unless she voluntarily gives up that right."

"And clearly, she won't."

Zhang Hu looked even more aggrieved. He clenched his fists so tightly that his fingertips turned white.

He had been to lawyer after lawyer.

But every one of them...

They all said dividing the assets was unavoidable. Even though she had cheated, found herself a lover, and even shown him videos and photos of it, he still had to hand her money like some pathetic cuckold.

It was humiliating.

Too damn humiliating!

Forget millions—Zhang Hu didn't want to give her a single cent!

But reality was cruel.

There was no getting around the laws on dividing assets in a divorce.

Just as Zhang Hu was about to resign himself to it...

Xu De, sitting across from him, thought for a long moment before changing tack.

"But... it's not entirely hopeless."

If it were merely a matter of dividing assets, Xu De could easily offer some advice. But...

The quality of the system's case reward rose with the client's satisfaction!

Even if Zhang Hu took his advice on dividing the assets, he would only be swallowing a bitter pill. He wouldn't be satisfied, much less grateful!

In that case...

Xu De would have to use a more unusual approach.

The kind that had kept him firmly in the chief legal counsel's seat in his previous life without a single slipup!!!

Zhang Hu froze, wondering if he had misheard. "Wh... what?"

"Mr. Zhang, judging by your attitude, what you really want isn't a divorce, or even to give her less money. It's..."

"To get revenge!"

Xu De paused, then raised his eyes to meet Zhang Hu's.

His low voice brushed against Zhang Hu's ear, tempting him like a devil:

"What if I told you I could help you take..."

"Revenge, entirely within the law?"