My Extraordinary Achievements #Chapter 291 - Can I Trust You? - Read My Extraordinary Achievements Chapter 291 - Can I Trust You? Online - All Page - FREEWN

Chapter 291: Can I Trust You?

In addition to daily communications, Abdul Nak's response also contained a sentence that Meng Fan didn't understand. Meng Fan could confirm it was Japanese, but he couldn't translate it no matter how hard he tried; it sounded weird no matter what.

"Is this a secret code? Or some kind of professional speak?"

Meng Fan used Malaysian to translate the pronunciation of the text, but the result was strange. He then tried several other languages, but they didn't make sense either, which assured him it was indeed Japanese.

Abdul Nak and Shouta Takashimaya only knew each other briefly. They were just regular friends and separated after a few conversations.

After separating, Meng Fan thought for a moment. He decided to invisibly follow Abdul Nak with the live stream assistant. As for Shouta Takashimaya, he still had the black magic microphone attached. If anything happened, he would hear it.

From monitoring their actions, Shouta Takashimaya had left the airport and headed toward the hotel after finishing some work at the office.

And on the other side, the live stream assistant showed Abdul Nak working as well. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Oh, I almost forgot this!"

Meng Fan suddenly remembered the wireless connection function on his live stream assistant. He tested it and found Abdul Nak's cell phone. He then copied the information inside it into his own phone.

Meng Fan didn't dare connect for too long in case he was discovered.

Meng Fan didn't know how 'magical' the black magic technologies were. What if it left a trace on the cell phone like a regular hacker? Hence, Meng Fan did not use this function often and did not think about it most of the time.

Especially in the airport. He could safely film with the invisible device, but he didn't dare hack into the airport main frame or activities of that sort. Who knows how modern the airport mainframe was? Even if it wasn't as advanced as the black magic objects, he could still be caught.

Besides, there wasn't much to gain from hacking into the airport mainframe.

But Meng Fan was still ballsy enough to snatch some information from someone's cell phone.

He copied an abundant amount of information, including contact information, text message history, and transaction history.

It was up to Meng Fan now to find evidence from the information he obtained.

Abdul Nak had very distinctive features. Hence, Meng Fan could confirm he wasn't one of the Hijackers. But based on his position at the airportโ€ฆ

Weapons!

Meng Fan had been GG'd by a bullet on the plane!

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How did these guns make it into the airplane?

Even if they had been disassembled, it was impossible that the weapons were able to pass through security. How did they get on the plane?

Comparing the photo of Abdul Nak and his position, Meng Fan thought of the greatest possibility. That is, Abdul Nak was responsible for monitoring the loading and unloading of cargo in the engine room. He had a role in all this!

He then thought about it again, realizing the confusing text must have been related to this.

He flipped through the information and found nothing of value. To Meng Fan, there was no useful information, or if there was, he wasn't able to pinpoint it specifically.

This made him uncomfortable!

Meng Fan had tested using the black magic microphone to hack into Shouta Takashimaya's cell phone. It was able to connect, but since the attributes of the mic was limited, he wasn't able to copy much information. Most of the content was related to voice memos and speech input. Meng Fan listened to a few before going speechless. He felt as if he had gained an unwarranted, detailed understanding of Shouta Takashimaya's certainโ€ฆ hobby.

He stopped listening. Instead, he used the voice translation function to translate the speech into text. The most used phrases he was able to extract consisted of ah, oh, and uh.

"This is no way to go about it."

As Meng Fan prepared to leave the cafe, he received a call from Minako Sakurai.

"Meng Fan-kun, are you free tonight?"

Meng Fan wanted to reject her offer, but remembered that Meng Caitang wouldn't be home until later that night; he agreed. Maybe he could get some information from Minako's end.

Currently, he's obtained two clues and set two more goals. No matter what, this was a start.

Minako Sakurai had arranged to meet Meng Fan at a Chinese restaurant near the National University. Meng Fan hurried over from the airport, but she'd already been waiting for a while but did not complain or show any signs of dismay. She told him that the dishes had already been ordered and handed Meng Fan a menu to see if he wanted to add anything.

"This is more than enough, and it's all my favorite dishes, too." Meng Fan had seriously analyzed the menu before smiling up. He asked: "Minako, you seem to understand Chinese cuisine very thoroughly. Do you cook often?"

Minako shyly nodded. She said that cooking was one of her favorite hobbies, and then bravely, she asked Meng Fan if he would try her cooking sometime in Japan.

The two shared an enjoyable meal together and talked a lot.

Minako Sakurai said she liked to watch Meng Fan and his chubby self, exclaiming that men like him were very handsome.

Afterwards, the two walked down the shopping streets for a while.

"Do you want to sit for a bit up there?"

Minako Sakurai saw a very romantic bar up ahead and looked at Meng Fan longingly. If they could share banter over some wine, the atmosphere would be great.

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Meng Fan thought about it and warned himself to not touch the alcohol, but most importantly, to not let this girl touch alcohol. He smiled. "Let's go sit down at that cafe over there. It's quieter, so we can talk."

Minako Sakurai gladly agreed. After entering the cafe, they asked for a quiet booth in the back. It seemed to be a couples booth too, with plenty of space, consisting of one large sofa. The two were sitting next to each other.

After they were seated, the atmosphere began to shift. Meng Fan was afraid to prolong this atmosphere and felt that Abdul Nak's statement was very important. He dug out the voice clip and showed it to Minako. "Minako, I have a sentence here that I need your help with. Is there anything wrong with the phrasing?"

He then played the audio recording.

Minako Sakurai was puzzled. She didn't know what Meng Fan meant. Could it be Meng Fan-kun's unique way of confessing to her?

Meng Fan played it again.

She continued to shake her head. "It sounds very jumbled." Then she looked at Meng Fan curiously. "Meng Fan-kun, what are you trying to express? Or do you want to know something?"

Meng Fan thought for a second and decided to take a gamble. "Is there any alternative meaning or slang to this sentence? Or another way to interpret it? Listen to it closely again. Does it have anything to do with commercial flight terms?"๐‘›๐‘œ๐“‹๐—ฒ๐—…๐’๐“ฎxt.๐—ฐ๐—ˆ๐‘€

Minako Sakurai heard this and felt even stranger. She realized that Meng Fan-kun wasn't trying to convey anything to her.

After requesting to listen to it several more times, Minako Sakurai scrunched her brows. "Meng Fan-kun, if I'm not mistaken, this must be an item number related to the cargo compartment of a flight!"

"That must be it!"

Meng Fan clenched his fists. Based on the conversations between these two, he could deduce where the weapon that killed him had come from. He could confirm that the item he was referring to in this article was the weapon!

That means Abdul Nak was the weapon provider, the "logistics" person of this hijacking.

Minako Sakurai suddenly felt alarmed. "Meng Fan-kun, why are you asking me this?"

If Minako Sakurai didn't find anything special from this sentence and asked him, Meng Fan would have used his excitement for flying, or something that a friend mentioned as an excuse.

But they were too far from that now!

No excuse would get him past this!

At this pointโ€ฆ

Thinking about it, Meng Fan really needed her help as well.

He went silent.

If he had Minako Sakurai's helpโ€ฆ An excellent plan instantly formed in Meng Fan's mind. And this plan could solve the hijacking incident before the plane takes off without causing too much attention. Of course, the premise was that Minako Sakurai had to be involved to ensure his safety.

He adjusted his smile and voice appeal to their extreme and stared at Minako Sakurai with a beaming smile. He didn't ask if she was willing to trust him. Instead, he said: "Minako, can I trust you?"

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Chapter 292: One Hour to Take Off

"Yes. Why, of course, yes!"

The doubt immediately vanished from Minako Sakurai's expression. In fact, she was almost worried that Meng Fan didn't trust her. She assured him: "No matter what Meng Fan-kun wants me to do, I will use 200% of my power to accomplish it! I, Minako Sakurai, swear on it!"

"Minako, I don't want you to promise."

At this point, Meng Fan knew that he was too late to back out of his honey trap. He reached out and put down Minako's raised hand. He then patted the back of her hand before exhaling. "Minako, I only said that because what I'm about to say is very important to the both of us. So I need you to be trustworthy, but at the same time, I also need you to trust in me."

"Of course, I trust Meng Fan-kun!"

As he patted her on the hand, Minako Sakurai's soul almost left her body. She grabbed his hand and pressed it against her chest. "Listen Meng Fan-kun, my heart won't lie!"

The soft material under his hand was agitated by a violent heartbeat. This really made Meng Fan helpless. For a full second, he was stunned before retracting his hand. He then calmly said: "Minako, I trust you."

Seeing Meng Fan blush, Minako Sakurai's heart immediately filled to the brim with warmth. Even Meng Fan-kun was a real man capable of embarrassment!

"Minako, that voice clip I just asked you to decipher was from a conversation between Mr. Shouto Takashimaya and another unknown person." Meng Fan got to the point. Of course, he'd filtered out some information; he wasn't going to tell her he had obtained the sound clips from hacking from his broadcast assistant.

As he spoke, Meng Fan made sure that their surroundings were secure. There wasn't anyone around, but there might be CCTV cameras and bugs.

As soon as he said this, Minako Sakurai's expression perked up. She was suspicious as well.

Meng Fan continued. "Do you remember? Yesterday when we left the 'Waterworld' attraction and went shopping, I went to the bathroom. On the way there, I saw Mr. Shouta Takashimaya. At that time, he should have been with three other people, but I saw him cautiously enter a house by himself with a strange look on his face."

Meng Fan made this up, though he did indeed go to the washroom.

Meng Fan continued. "I thought something was off, so I carefully followed him and heard this conversation. Aside from that clip I just showed you, I heard Mr. Shouta Takashimaya ask if things were ready and then hung up the phone. He then confidently said to himself that since it was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, the wretched man and woman would both be on the flight, so he could see them off together."

"Oh, no!"

As she listened, Minako Sakurai gasped. Then, she covered her mouth and whispered: "Meng Fan-kun, the wretched man and woman he was referring to are Ohno-san and Shinobu! Oh right, a while ago you asked me about the two. Was it because of this?"

Meng Fan nodded. Good, he had successfully filled the gap.

Minako Sakurai was a meticulous person. She had aviation safety knowledge and understood the sensitivity of the crisis. As soon as she connected the dots between the flight cabin with the item number and Shouta Takashimaya's voice clip, she immediately looked at Meng Fan. "Meng Fan-kun, are you saying that Mr. Takashimaya is planning to do something dangerous on the flight? Like a hijacking?!"

Meng Fan gestured for her to calm down and spoke. "Minako, let me finish. I also thought this was a possibility, so I became curious. When we left the movie set, I followed Mr. Takashimaya for a while before realizing he had been mysteriously sneaking around to meet with someone else. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear what they were discussing, but they were very suspicious. I had all kinds of worries when I saw them, so I asked you. If I'm overthinking it, then that would be great; but your translationโ€ฆ"

"So Meng Fan-kun, you've been so busy because you're stalking Shouta Takashimaya?"

Minako Sakurai immediately brightened up, as if a knot in her heart had been untied. She then remembered that Meng Fan had decided to buy this flight and suddenly filled in the blank as to why Meng Fan would be worried for himself.

At this time, Meng Fan found two sheets of paper and took out his average-looking universal pen. He began to draw.

Meng Fan was fast at drawing and had Minako Sakurai mesmerized. My god, Meng Fan-kun knows how to draw, and he's so fast, too!๐‘›๐‘œ๐“‹๐—ฒ๐—…๐’๐“ฎxt.๐—ฐ๐—ˆ๐‘€

Soon, Meng Fan was done. He handed the paper over to her and asked: "Do you recognize this person?"

Minako Sakurai looked at it carefully. "I don't know his name, but I can confirm he's an employee at the airport, and he's responsible for monitoring the cargo handling of the plane cabin!"

From this, Minako Sakurai was certain that something dangerous was about to happen.

Then, Meng Fan drew another drawing. This time, he sketched out the appearance of the hijacker that was ingrained in his mind. He wasn't able to complete the drawing entirely, since he was relying on his repressed memories to draw him. Afterwards, he said to her: "Just now, that was the person that Mr. Takashimaya had been meeting with. This is the second person he met with. I'm not too sure what he looked like, so I could only draw what I remembered."

Minako Sakurai shook her head. "I don't know about this one."

Meng Fan pretended to be deep in thought. "Maybe he isn't an employee from the airport. Maybe he isโ€ฆ a passenger!"

"Meng Fan-kun, wait a minute."

Minako Sakurai took out her phone and searched for about five minutes before receiving a file. It was the passenger list for the flight tomorrow of everyone who had purchased tickets. Naturally, they all had photos.

Minako Sakurai compared the photos and quickly secured her target, handing the phone to him. "Meng Fan-kun, is it this guy?"

Meng Fan immediately confirmed!

Minako Sakurai searched the time of purchase of the tickets. It was only an hour ago, which further confirmed Meng Fan's deductions!

"Crap! What do we do now!"

Minako Sakurai was nervous and a bit disoriented. "I have to go back and report it to the managers!"

"Wait up, Minako."

Meng Fan pressed down on Minako Sakurai's hands and spoke. "Minako, I have an idea. Hear me out first before deciding. It might not be a stable plan, but I trust that you will give me solid advice."

Minako Sakurai unwillingly parted with Meng Fan and returned to the hotel. She took a shower and then carefully played Meng Fan's plan over and over again in her mind. It was a solid strategy. If it really was a mistake, they could minimize its impact. If it was real, then they could assure the safety of all the passengers and staff on board, while also capturing the hijackers.

Of course, after thinking through it so carefully, the few logical brain cells left in her could at least confirm that Meng Fan wasn't pulling a prank or trying to be a hero.

And Meng Fan had reminded her several times already of the warmth in her heart, which made it difficult to fall asleep.

Minako Sakurai couldn't sleep at all. At this time, she didn't dare meet with any of the other crew members, especially Shouto Takashimaya. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to control her emotions and expressions when she met with him. If he realized what she knew, thenโ€ฆ

Minako Sakurai was overthinking, but her eyes suddenly lit up. "If I tell Meng Fan-kun of my anxieties and suggest that I'd feel safer with him close byโ€ฆ Then maybe I could still see him at this late hour!"

"No, no, no! I can't do that!"

"It's already so late. Based on my regular habits, I would never go out at this time. It would be bad if my strange actions attracted more unwanted attention!"

Thankfully, this girl tended to overthink. Otherwise, Meng Fan wouldn't know what to do.

Meng Fan trusted Minako Sakurai, but he was still worried. Hence, he used what was left of his points and exchanged a black magic microphone โ€” from the [Concert Killer] task bar, so he could redeem it multiple times โ€” and put it inside Minako Sakurai's necklace.

Minako Sakurai had said that this necklace was the only thing her grandmother had left her and that she wore it wherever and whenever possible. Meng Fan felt this was the best place to attach his black magic microphone.

If Minako Sakurai accidentally leaked something, or something unexpected happened, Meng Fan could put on his hat and short-circuit her brain. Then, he could interrupt her and prevent her from doing anything. This would protect her, as well as protect himself.

Afterwards, Meng Fan began to feel uncomfortable.

From his earphones, he could hear the various murmurs and moans of Minako Sakurai calling out his name, with other sounds accompanying her voice as well.

Meng Fan had once devoted himself to the Mikami god, but did not expect to be rewarded.

This really was the heavens rewarding him!

Thankfully, Minako Sakurai fell asleep after being tired out, her breathing steady through his earbuds.

The next day, Meng Caitang was finally free. She accompanied Meng Fan for the morning and shared lunch with him. She had planned to take him out in the afternoon as well, but Meng Fan had insisted on going off on his own to the airport and sketch as he awaited boarding. Meng Caitang knew Meng Fan was working on a manga, so after dropping him off at the airport, she took his advice and left early seeing him settle down into his drawing.

The plane was the last flight of the day to Japan, and would take off at 10:20 p.m. He was scheduled to arrive in Japan at five o'clock the next morning under the premise that the flight was able to safely depart .

Meng Fan continued to draw as he monitored the live stream assistant. He waited for the memorable hijacker to appear, who he now knew the name of thanks to Minako Sakurai: Alec Lall.

Time flew by, and it was evening in no time. Quickly, Meng Fan learned that Minako Sakurai and the rest of the crew were inside the airport around nine in the evening. He also saw Alec Lall and instructed his stream aid to pursue him. He then began to go through the check-in and security procedures.

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Chapter 293: Taken Hostage

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

"Minako, you don't look well today."

The flight attendants passed through security and headed for the VH* flight ahead of time. This was a Boeing 782, a large plane, flying from Singapore to Tokyo, Japan.

Shino Shibuya leaned toward Minako and smiled. "I'm guessing it's related to that Meng Fan-kun, right? I think I saw him from the guest list." She took another step closer. "Minako, did Meng Fan-kun go to Tokyo because of you? Did you guys already plan to go somewhere?"

Minako Sakurai's face immediately flushed red. "Shino, don't say that."

Shino lowered her voice. "Meng Fan-kun seems very strong, though."

Minako's face flushed even redder. She hurriedly left the conversation and went to work.

At the same time, she was watching the time.

"The cargo must be finished loading soon!"

Minako Sakurai was very nervous. As the time neared, she became more and more anxious. In the end, some minor mistakes were made during her preparation.

"Minako, just focus on your work. You can think about your Meng Fan-kun when you arrive in Tokyoโ€ฆ"

Shino Shibuya corrected Minako's error as she teased her.

"Thank you, Shino!"

Minako Sakurai thought that Shinobu was a relatively great person, aside from thatโ€ฆ

Finally, Minako Sakurai received the OK from the loading crew that the cargo in the front of the cabin had been secured and loaded. She immediately headed to the washroom to pass on the information.

โ€ฆ

After entering the lobby, Meng Fan immediately scoped out Alec Lall. From his appearance, he seemed to be of Malaysian or Indonesian descent. He had an average build and looked to be harmless. However, because of Meng Fan's excellent Observational skills, he could visibly see the strong muscles hidden under his loose clothes and the subtle trace of menace in his eyes.

Some things just couldn't be hidden!

Especially under a very watchful eye.

Meng Fan was still very cautious. When he had trained with Lao Hei, he had frequently scouted for information. He knew that there were people in this world that had distinct five senses, and sometimes even a sixth one. Some people could even perceive that they were being watched. If he kept looking at Alec Lall, it was likely he'd be discovered.

Meng Fan pulled out an apple from the bag he carried with him but continued to monitor his phone. He didn't broadcast the live stream onto his phone; he was really watching his virtual screen instead.

Aside from this, Meng Fan also tried to scope out the other two hijackers. It turned out that he was really able to find a suspicious person with his Observational skills. It was an individual who looked fierce but a little dumb.

As Meng Fan was watching him, this person had been glancing towards Alec Lall several times. Meng Fan could even see Alec Lall cautioning him with a glare.

With that, Meng Fan could confirm that this was another one of the hijackers.

Meng Fan wasn't able to find the other two, though.

Unfortunately, this stupid man didn't try to 'find' the others like he did with Alec Lall. If so, Meng Fan would have been able to find all the targets.

After throwing out his finished apple in the garbage, Meng Fan continued to monitor his phone. In his other hand, he began to play with two coins.

A bag of fruit and twenty or so coins was the arsenal of weapons that Meng Fan had prepared.

โ€ฆ

Three minutes after Minako Sakurai sent out the message, the inspection vehicle for the cargo appeared on its last routine near the aircraft. At the same time, two groups of airport patrol also approached. Each group consisted of two soldiers and a policeman.

The inspection vehicles parked in the loading zone, and two police officers descended from the car in addition to the inspectors.

The supervisor, Abdul Nak, was about to approach and greet the inspectors, but creased his brows as he saw the two policemen. He maintained his composure, but when he saw two police officers walk towards him from both sides, his demeanor changed.

"Don't move!"

He had wanted to scramble, but the police officers had drawn their guns!

"Everyone be quiet!"

In the loading area, a team of ten people had appeared, controlling everyone in the area.

The inspectors entered the front cabin of the aircraft and found a box with the corresponding item code. They opened the box, expressions solemn.

Immediately, he reported to the superior through a walkie talkie. "We've discovered disassembled firearms in the cargo!"

"Strike!"

The two airport patrol officers boarded the flight and gestured for everyone to be quiet. He then touched the door of the cockpit and entered. As soon as they were inside, they immediately captured Shouta Takashimaya, while also taking control over everyone inside the aircraft at the time.๐‘›๐‘œ๐“‹๐—ฒ๐—…๐’๐“ฎxt.๐—ฐ๐—ˆ๐‘€

โ€ฆ

There was a voice broadcast signaling boarding already, and soon, a long line had formed at the designated gate.

"They're still allowing regular boarding?"

Meng Fan saw the news and felt unsettled.

He had already heard the commotion from the black magic microphone attached to Minako Sakurai, and he could confirm that Takashimaya had been 100% caught.

At this timeโ€ฆ Meng Fan thought for a moment. As far as the airport was concerned, the most important task was to ensure passenger safety. What if the best way to protect the passengers was to keep them from knowing that there were hijackers?

It was impossible that they would send police or soldiers directly into the lobby to arrest people.

They also couldn't determine how many hijackers or which individuals were the criminals. This kind of behavior would be very dangerous. Plus, there were way too many people in the departure hall, and it was a large space, too. Even if they found a target, it would cause a mess. It would also give the criminal an opportunity to seize hostages.

Therefore, after confirming that the hijacker was on this flight, the next best idea to ensure the safety of all the passengers aboard was to filter everyone from the departure hall into the gates. It meant that fewer people needed to be monitored and made it easier for any police forces in pursuit.

Instead of boarding immediately after entering the gate, they exited the building and boarded a shuttle bus instead.

Meng Fan remembered that it had been a direct boarding gate before his incident. This time, the change must have been related to the safety concerns.

After reaching the aircraft on the shuttle bus, all the passengers departed and headed towards the plane. When the first person was a dozen or so steps from the plane, a team of policemen with live ammunition rushed out of the plane. At the same time, a team of officers also appeared from the rear side of the plane.

Another group of police officers pulled up from where the shuttle bus was parked.

They had encircled all three sides of the passengers suddenly, making them feel too terrified to even pee!

What was going on?!

The sudden change stunned Meng Fan.

Suddenly, a warning was issued. "We are the airport security staff affiliated with the Singapore Police Force. Everyone, please kneel and cooperate with the inspection! Do not try to do anything unusual, otherwise it will be considered a threat to public safety!"

However, before he could finish the sentence, a person from the crowd immediately grabbed a little girl nearby and clutched her in his arms. A sharp aluminum pocket knife made from a soda can appeared in his hand, and it was pressed directly against her neck!

Immediately, the crowd began to descend into chaos before anyone could kneel down.

At this time, the guy Meng Fan had regarded as stupid had grabbed onto a small old man, firmly pressing a sharp pointed wooden nail against his neck!

"We can't scatter!"

Meng Fan wanted to curse these people and their mothers. He didn't expect the hijackers to be this rampant, nor did he expect them to have weapons at their disposal!

Meng Fan did not have much faith in the Southeast Asian police force from the beginning, including Singapore as well, even if its airport has been rated the safest airport by the American media!

He warned himself to stay calm and kept his eyes focused on Alec Lall.

At this moment, Alec Lall turned around and a sharp aluminum sheet knife appeared in his hands, pointed at Meng Fan's neck. Meng Fan wanted to fight back but resisted the urge.

"Don't move if you want to live!"

As soon as he heard Alec's words, Meng Fan came to a realization. You are the dumb one!

Although he was the closest hostage to him, Alec Lall was no match for Meng Fan in terms of body size.

The person that Meng Fan had thought to be the most dangerous man had actually chose to capture himself as a hostage!

He thought about the stupid thief who had tried to rob him in public transit in Hangzhou. He couldn't help but smirk. Was this Alec Lall also taunted by his strong presence?

Meng Fan immediately felt relief after he'd been captured as a hostage.

Originally, he was worried that the police would mistake him as a thief amid the chaos and fire at him. But now, he could rest assured.

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Chapter 294: Big Brother Knows Magic

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

"Don't move unless you want to die!"

"Don't move!"

"Stop crying!"

The three hijackers moved toward each other after they got their hostages. Meanwhile, the passengers who were still free converged toward the police.

Police rushed forward from three sides, protecting the passengers. At the same time, a group of police quickly divided the passengers into three groups โ€” women and children, older men, and young men โ€” in order to screen for more hijackers.

The chance of a hijacker hiding among women, children, and older men was slim. If there was a hijacker among them, he would be among the young men. Dividing the group was a good way to manage and monitor the crowd of people.

If there was a hijacker among the young men, there's a risk, but at least they minimized the risk. A young man who was a hijacker would be a lot more dangerous than an older man, a woman, or a child who was a hijacker.

This was the only response they could have given the emergency.

The rest of the police charged forward, surrounding the three hijackers.

"Back off!"

The hijacker who held the little girl had a contorted expression. He held a piece of aluminum against the girl's neck, shouting, "Car, give us a car!"

The three hijackers realized their plot was foiled. It was impossible to hijack the flight now, so they just wanted to leave the airport using their hostages. As for the money and anything else, they could worry about it after they get away. As long as they had the hostages, they still had a chance.

"Please, let my daughter go!"

One couple didn't move toward police protection. With frightened expressions, they shouted at the hijackers. The woman actually kneeled down in front of them, "I'm begging you, please let my daughter go. I can give you as much money as you want!"

"Get the car! We won't hurt her!"

The three hijackers huddled together, facing the police in three directions. They also hid behind their hostages, trying to prevent ambushes.

When it came to protection, Alec Lall was the safest. He didn't even hide especially hard as he was protected in all directions.

The hijacker with the little girl was most at risk. He lifted her up, using her to protect his own chest and head.

Another hijacker, who held an elderly man, was much huskier. He couldn't use the skinny old man as a shield, so he just squatted down.

"Please, get them a car!"

Two police officers came out to drag the couple back, but the woman screamed in desperation.

"Ma'am, please trust us!"

The police kept dragging the woman away, not letting go no matter how she struggled. This wasn't a time for civilians to make a mess.

The man didn't struggle; he just kept staring at his daughter with a pained expression. He knew this was a situation only the police could handle.

"Don't be impulsive. We're getting you a car!"

The police tried to stabilize the hijackers. Before they had total control over the situation, no one dared to act rashly.

The hijacker holding the little girl yelled, "You have one minute! I want to see the car in one minute!" Then he screamed at the little girl, "Stop crying!"

"Don't be scared."

Meng Fan turned to look at the angelic-looking girl. He smiled and said, "It'll be okay, big brother is here."

Yakli Larl only held a piece of aluminum on Meng Fan's neck, leaving his hands free. Meng Fan just patted once to put the "invisible hat" on the little girl.

The little girl calmed down instantly. She looked toward Meng Fan with trust.

Meng Fan, however, had almost forgotten about the little girl.

Almost, because the hat could make the girl almost invisible, but the hat itself existed only it was invisible now. Others cannot see the hat, but Meng Fan could.

The hijacker holding the little girl was startled. He loosened his hands and looked down, doubting himself.

The little girl fell onto the ground. She was shocked too as she ran toward her parents.

"What the โ€”"

The hijacker who had the little girl was dumbfounded, so was Alec Lall, who held Meng Fan. He asked, "Where's your hostage?"

"What?"

The first hijacker looked stunned. Where's my hostage?

Did I even have a hostage?

Pow!

Just then, Meng Fan turned suddenly, grabbing and twisting Alec Lall's wrist, making a crisp popping sound. His other hand grabbed the hijacker's neck and squeezed, turning Yakli Larl's face beet-colored.

Then, he lifted up Yakli Lark and tossed the man toward the first hijacker.

Not only did Yakli Larl fall onto the hijacker, but so did Meng Fan.

Yakli Larl fell on top of the hijacker, while Meng Fan was on top of Yakli Larl. If this kind of wrestling technique had a name, it should be called Jenga.

Meng Fan was the one on top.

Meng Fan used all of his strength in the throw.

In the past, when he fought with Wu Ji, Meng Fan always controlled his power. This time, he held nothing back.

After Meng Fan landed, he rolled, hitting the two hijackers in the head with his elbow.

Pow pow!

The two hijackers passed out with the huge noises.

Then, Meng Fan kept rolling. Now he had a coin in his hand. Forcefully, his right hand tossed the coin.๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐‘’๐—…๐‘›๐‘’xt.๐’ธ๐—ˆ๐•ž

Swoosh.

If someone listened carefully, one could hear the loud friction noise the flying coin made in the air.

Splat!

The coin collided with the third hijacker's hand, which held the wooden peg. The coin, combined with Meng Fan's strength, made the hijacker let go of the wooden peg.

Meanwhile, another coin flew toward this hijacker, hitting him in the eye.

"Ow!"

The hijacker covered his eye, screaming.

His hostage, the elderly man, used the chance to get away.

Whew!

Meng Fan was relieved. He took out an apple and threw it at the hijacker's forehead.

The apple cracked into pieces, making the hijacker shake.

Another apple pounded the hijacker.

And another one. This apple had the biggest force behind it, making the hijacker fall backward.

When Meng Fan took out the fourth apple, the hijacker was already on the ground, with the police pointing their guns at the man's head. The other two hijackers, who had passed out earlier, were also surrounded by police.

Crunch!

Meng Fan bit into the apple. The fruit was hard.

The crunching sound seemed to wake everyone up. However, everyone was still confused as to what had happened.

They'd have believed this was a movie!

"Mom, why don't you want me anymore?"

"Dad, why don't you see me?"

Meng Fan heard the crying and forgot it instantly. Then he slapped his head, realizing the invisible hat was still on. He took the hat off the girl.

He saw the angelic-looking little girl again.

Her parents wouldn't forget their daughter even if she wore the hat. But they couldn't see her or forgot she was next to them when they did. Their memory of her kept them looking for her.

The little girl thought her parents had abandoned her; she was having a breakdown.

"En'en, don't be afraid."

When he took off her hat, Meng Fan remembered the little girl's words and that her name was En'en. He squatted down and smiled at her, trying to make her calm.

Her parents were shell-shocked as they realized their daughter was right there. She was standing next to that incredible man from earlier.

When they were about to walk over, they saw the man motioning them to stop moving for a minute.

The little girl totally trusted Meng Fan. She seemed to recover somewhat, but she continued to cry. "Big brother, why don't my parents want me anymore? Why can't they see me?"

Meng Fan whispered to the girl, "En'en, I used magic on you, so your parents couldn't see you for a while. Now I took off the magic, so they can. You parents love you very much!"

The little girl, noticing her parents watching her with tears in their eyes, believed Meng Fan's words. She was amazed. "You know magic! That's so cool!"

Meng Fan chuckled, "This is our secret; don't tell other people."

The girl nodded solemnly.

"Go to your parents."

"OK."

The little girl rushed over to her parents, looking back the whole time. When her parents hugged her tightly, she winked at Meng Fan.

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Chapter 295: An Anonymous Hero

The landing area was lit up like noon. Almost a hundred cops and about two hundred passengers had gathered here while the night wind blew in from Malacca. Everyone's attention also focused on Meng Fan. Maybe they stared at him because he didn't give the apple he had to the little girl who was crying. He must really like to eat.

But in the eyes of these policemen and passengers, Meng Fan wasn't just a foodie to them, but someone really magical.

Everything that just happened felt too much like a movie.

The hijacked hostage retaliated, taking down three hijackers!

It was magical and simply astounding!

The process was unbelievable.

How did this young guy lift up a grown person?

What did he use to hit one hijacker's hand and eyes? Did he use a secret weapon? Chinese Kung Fu?

How did he use an apple to knock a hijacker to the ground? It didn't make sense, but it looked amazing, making one feel so vindicated.

The young man's power, courage, reaction, judgement, and wisdom were all unbelievable. He managed to foil a plane hijacking all on his own!

The heart-warming thing he did at the end was very touching.

The way he comforted the little girl could only be described as: Real men can be tender.

The scene was very heartfelt.

While everyone felt the whole thing was a little odd, no one could quite put a finger on why things seemed different.

Crunch.๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐‘’๐—…๐‘›๐‘’xt.๐’ธ๐—ˆ๐•ž

Meng Fan kept eating the super-hard apple in big bites, as if this was the only way to ease his complex emotions.

Whew, so this is done.

The process was different from how he imagined it, but the results were even better than he expected. He didn't die, nor did anyone else.

Clap, clap, clap.

Some people suddenly started clapping, until everyone joined in, celebrating their new lease in life. They also applauded to express their respect and gratitude to Meng Fan.

Most of the police, other than a few auxiliary officers, didn't clap, but they did salute Meng Fan with their eyes.

Now was the time to face pragmatic problems.

"All passengers."

One of the police officers came forward. He had stripes on his shoulders and wore a serious expression. "The flight is temporarily cancelled. We have set up a lounge for all of you. We will try to give everyone an answer you're happy with as soon as possible."

He then bowed deeply. Meanwhile, the police divided the two hundred or so passengers into three shuttles and sent them to the lounge.

The airport needed to investigate this matter, which required all the passengers' cooperation in eliminating all potential danger.

The recovering passengers weren't all happy about the arrangement, but they understood there was no way the regular flight would resume without delay.

They didn't know that all flights at this airport were delayed. Of course, the airport didn't announce that there was a hijacking; they used the weather as an excuse for the delayed departures.

They needed to screen all the planes!

After the passengers were taken away, all the crew members were taken away too to a special lounge.

โ€ฆ

"Why doesn't my phone have a signal?"

"Mine, too!"

After the passengers arrived at their lounge, everyone soon realized that their cell phones were not working.

The airport employees reacted quickly, they explained that before the incident was investigated, they shouldn't leak any information to the outside world to cause issues. They implied that some of the hijackers might still be at the airport.

The airport's explanation didn't satisfy the passengers, who felt the airport was trying to lock down information to do their public relations spin. The passengers, fresh from their ordeal, were very angry about what had happened.

Soon, the airport announced that an explanation would be given to everyone in one hour, which seemed to appease the passengers.

During this time, a few passengers were taken away for interviews. They returned very quickly. This group included Meng Fan, the elderly man who was taken hostage, and En'en's family.

One hour later, the airport, as promised, gathered every passenger into a large conference room to give the incident report.

Thanks to Minako Sakurai's tip, the disassembled weapons in the front freight area, the loading footage from the freight area, and crew members involved in the hijacking were all found. Since Meng Fan managed to control all the hijackers, the investigation became much easier.

The airport was relatively direct. They classified the incident as an attempted hijacking. However, they didn't tell the passengers about the disassembled weapons in the freight area.

"The airport has arranged a charter flight for everyone to go to Kyoto. Everyone can board the plane after an hour and half from now. If anyone needs to cancel or change their flight, we will have our staff help you. The airport will reimburse you for your loss of time and emotional distress via double the amount of airfare, in additionโ€ฆ"

"Regarding the three hostaged passengers, we will offer additional compensation."

"We will reward Mr. M for his courageous action. Mr. M will receive free services for life at this airport, as well as free flights for life from the airline, and a cash reward."

All the passengers clapped at the news.

Everyone who was sitting down in front also stood up to express apologies at the passengers.

"Finally," The airport spokesperson said, "The airport will inform the public about this incident. We will host a press conference soon. We will not embargo any information. We welcome and need the monitoring from the public. However, we do ask you to keep one thing confidential."

There was no way this incident could be kept secret. First, the sudden delays airport-wide was strange; second, all the police activity in the landing area was probably already seen by many people; and third, none of the passengers at the airport had an obligation to keep the incident confidential. They could even file more claims for responsibility.

Passengers became restless at the news of keeping something confidential.

The airport spokesperson pointed at Meng Fan, who sat in the front row, "Mr. M's heroic action should be known to everyone, but due to the terrorism-related nature of this incident, concerns for Mr. M's safety, and after consulting Mr. M's own opinions, we hope everyone can sign a confidentiality agreement to promise never to share the involvement of Mr. M."

The passengers stopped being disgruntled after they heard the reasoning; they all signed the confidentiality agreement.

What was the point of the agreement?

If something happened to Meng Fan, and they found out who leaked the information, they could pursue legal action against the person.

While everyone knew this was good for Meng Fan's personal safety, they still wished they could talk about it. Not only couldn't they brag, this hero was anonymous!

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Chapter 296

: Superhero

The screening for the crew was much more stringent, even without Shouta Takashimaya being a hijacker. Since the front freight area had disassembled weapons, the obvious question would beโ€ฆ Who would need to retrieve the weapons? Wouldn't that be a crew member?

As for the charter flight for the passengers, it wouldn't need the current crew. In fact, before the screening ended, the whole crew had to stay at the airport or another designated place.

The crew didn't have as much rights as passengers; they had to obey all the rules.

Shino Shibuya, as Shouta Takashimaya's fiancรฉe, was a major focus of the investigation. Hideo Ohno, rumored to be having an affair with Shino Shibuya, was also thoroughly investigated.

"Minako."

When Shino Shibuya finished her interview, she returned to the lounge for the crew. She sat next to Minako Sakurai and whispered, "Were you the whistleblower?"

Minako Sakurai's face stiffened. Her report wasn't anonymous; if it was, the investigation wouldn't be so fast. But her report was confidential; only the airport and airline officials at the highest level knew who she was. The confidentiality helped protect Minako.

Her reward would also be subtle. In addition to a material award, her professional development would be very smooth from now on.

"It has to do with Meng Fan-kun, right?"

Everyone in the crew saw Meng Fan's action at the airport.

Shino Shibuya wasn't stupid; she made a guess easily. Seeing Minako Sakurai's expression now, she was all but certain of her theory.

Shino Shibuya took a deep breath, "Relax, I won't tell anyone."

Minako Sakurai answered, "Shino, you know that if the hijacking worked, you and Hideo would both beโ€ฆ be killed. I heard it with my own ears!"

Minako Sakurai didn't say if Meng Fan had anything to do with it. When the airport officials questioned her, she just said she overheard the plot.

"I know!"

Shino Shibuya lightly patted Minako Sakurai and leaned back into a tight ball. She said, "I don't hate you. But Minako, do you believe me when I say I really do love Shouta?"๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐‘’๐—…๐‘›๐‘’xt.๐’ธ๐—ˆ๐•ž

Minako Sakurai was stunned at the words.

To be honest, she didn't think Shino Shibuya would say something like this. She would never guess what Shino Shibuya would do later after Shouta Takashimaya was sentenced to death.

โ€” Attempted hijacking was a crime considered as hijacking in many countries, not to mention, this one occurred in Singapore, a place with very strict laws.

All of this would happen in the future. For the moment, Minako Sakurai wasn't worried about any of this; her mind was full of Meng Fan.

Minako Sakurai saw everything Meng Fan did at the airport. The heroic scene was something she would never forget.

The spectacular moments also made Minako Sakurai realize something.

"Meng Fan-kun, actually, you got to know me because of this incident, right?"

"You approached me because you wanted to meet Shouta Takashimaya, right?"

"Actually, you knew Shouta Takashimaya was part of the hijacking from the start, right?"

Other than Meng Fan, Minako Sakurai knew the most about the attempted hijacking. Thinking back to what Meng Fan told her at the cafe, she noticed some holes in his story. Adding everything together, she had reached this conclusion.

"Meng Fan-kun, you're a superhero, right?"

"Like in the movies, the secret agents from 'S.H.I.E.L.D.,' the superheroes from 'Avengers,' and Tom Cruise from 'Mission Impossible,' you're always showing up at dangerous places to save the world, right?"

"Meng Fan-kun, my superhero!"

Minako Sakurai became really excited at the thought of being a partner to a world-saving superhero. If there weren't other colleagues around, she'd have screamed.

A superhero and a beauty partnered together to save the world โ€” or at least an attempted hijacking โ€” is there anything more exciting?

Yes, if they became a couple!

Minako Sakurai thought to herself, if a romance really happened, even if she was in danger of dying like the female protagonists in those superhero movies, or even if she did die, she would do it!

"Minako Sakurai, come on out here."

While Minako Sakurai daydreamed, an airport employee asked her to leave the lounge. She thought it was for an interview, but Meng Fan appeared in front of her.

"Meng Fan-kun!"

Minako Sakurai ran toward Meng Fan and hugged him tightly.

The nearby police officer watched the scene benovently. Meng Fan was getting a heroic welcome. He didn't know Minako Sakurai was the whistleblower. The police officer left the lounge to give them privacy.

"Meng Fan-kun, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Meng Fan patted Minako Sakurai's back gently, retrieving the black technology microphone attached to her pendant. It cost 1,000 points, ok?

As for the black technology microphone on Shouta Takashimaya's watch: first, Meng Fan had no reason to visit him, who was under close guard; and second, even if he saw the hijacker, his watch was already removed and locked away. Meng Fan wouldn't have a way to learn other information via eavesdropping, so he started the device's self-destruct process, losing 1,000 points in the process.

After Minako Sakurai let go of Meng Fan, she noticed Meng Fan winking at her. She knew what could be said and what she couldn't. She grew excited and got into the fantasy of being the beautiful partner to a superhero again. This was the movie's sequel!

"Meng Fan-kun, are you still going to Japan? How long will you stay there?"

"I need to stay here for the investigation for a while. Not sure when I can go to Japan yet. If I do go and you're there, can I look you up?"

Minako Sakurai looked sad at the news that he couldn't leave with her. She was hoping for more development with him when they toured Japan together. Now, she couldn't do anything.

"I might stay for three days in Japan. If you can go there soon, it'd be great, if notโ€ฆ" Meng Fan was touched by Minako Sakurai's forlorn expression. He softened and said, "I will probably go to Japan in the future. It doesn't mean we won't ever see each other again."

"Really?"

Minako Sakurai was so happy she stood up and kissed Meng Fan's face. She blushed. "I will always remember that morning when I first saw you. Your smile was so warm, it woke up my whole world. Even if I forget my name one day, I will always remember your name, Meng Fan-kun. You're my superhero!"

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Chapter 297: A Photo

Once all the passengers boarded the plane, the seat assignments were still the same as before.

Xu Enqi, En'en, found Meng Fan as soon as she could. After she checked with her parents, she walked over to Meng Fan, winking at him. Then she asked the middle-aged woman next to him, "Auntie, can I swap seats with you?"

The woman stood up with a smile, "Of course, you can." She picked up the little girl and put her in the seat. "Here, the little princess should sit with the super hero. It's the best."

Everyone on the plane chuckled. After the traumatic event at the airport, everyone on the plane felt as close as family.

En'en's parents came over and said with some embarrassment, "Mr. M, sorry to bother you." En'en's mom reminded the girl, "If big brother is tired, don't keep harassing him, okay?"

En'en nodded adorably and waved to her parents, "Dad, mom, go back to your seats. You can't move around on the plane. Put on your seatbelt."

Then, she took out two apples from her Peppa Pig backpack, one big and one small, handing the big one to Meng Fan. "Big brother, this is for you." She made sure to lower her voice. "Your magic came from the apples."

This is probably because she saw how Meng Fan calmly ate an apple after beating all the hijackers.

Her innocent words brought a new round of laughter.

The plane took off on time. En'en talked to Meng Fan constantly, while still acting politely and speaking quietly, as if she was whispering. After they talked for a while, she took out an iPad to watch a cartoon with Meng Fan. Coincidentally, the cartoon was "Adventures in the Forest."

Meng Fan didn't know "Adventures in the Forest" had already aired. It seemed to be popular too.

"Big brother."

As they watched, En'en looked at Meng Fan and frowned. She asked, "Big brother, why does Uncle Crocodile's voice sound like yours?"

Meng Fan laughed at the question. He voiced a lot of characters in this show, including Uncle Crocodile. He used mostly his own voice for Uncle Crocodile, so it's not surprising that En'en could recognize him. He considered and replied, "En'en, you're amazing. If you have a question, just ask."

"What? Duck Teacher?"

En'en almost yelled when she heard Meng Fan's new voice. She covered her mouth and stared at him in shock. "Big brother, do you know voice magic?"

Meng Fan was going to tell her these voices were all his, but since En'en brought up magic again, he just nodded and showed off the voices of the other characters.

"Wow, big brother is so cool!"

En'en happily clapped. Admiration filled her gaze.

It was late. After they watched two episodes of the cartoon, En'en passed out on Meng Fan's shoulder. Without Meng Fan pressing on the "help needed" light, the flight attendant brought over two blankets. It was obvious she paid attention to them the whole time.

โ€ฆ

By now, the press conference at the airport had finished. Word of the attempted hijacking spread at the speed of light and became top news at various media outlets.

Various agencies had also gotten involved in the investigation and follow-up work, such as the Singaporean government and Interpol.

Before the news came out, there was already some speculation about the incident. Many people had noticed the irregular events at the landing area. Theories of a possible hijacking also circulated. There were also a few photos from the incident which got leaked.

The theories and photos were all leaked by the passengers. However, they weren't leaked after signing the confidentiality agreement or after the passengers were taken to the lounge, but while they took the shuttle from the landing area to the lounge.

The passengers who shared the photos didn't realize how serious the incident was, so they volunteered the leak when they signed the confidentiality agreement, hoping to avoid any responsibility.

The airport couldn't do anything about it; their efforts in confidentiality left something to be desired. At least the leaked photos didn't have frontal shots of Meng Fan. The airport could only tell the passengers to delete the photos, and to try to work better in the future.

The media outlets cooperated by not releasing related photos.

However, one photo went viral.

In the photo, a tall man squatted down to comfort a little girl. Lights in the darkness shone on their silhouettes, making their details blurry, but the scene stunning.

In addition, the publicized information from the airport did mention a man who saved himself and others, so many people knew that the tall man in the photo was that heroic passenger, while the little girl was another hostage.

With such a backstory, the photo became extra meaningful.

The photo became even more popular.๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐‘’๐—…๐‘›๐‘’xt.๐’ธ๐—ˆ๐•ž

Many names were given to the photo, including "Light of Singapore,""Light of Asia,""Light of a Hero," of course, the most recognized title of the photo was "An Anonymous Hero."

Curious people always wanted more details; many people asked about and searched for this anonymous hero online.

The airport felt resigned about the public curiosity. They worked harder than ever in PR to protect Meng Fan's identity.

One famous singer, who had been kidnapped before, tweeted to her millions of fans, "Very touched about the Anonymous Hero photo, but more touched about the story behind the photo. This has to do with terrorism, however; so please, for the sake of the hero's safety, stop retweeting the photo. Leave the light in our hearts. Stop trying to speculate and search for who he is. Even if you knew his name, don't say it. He had helped to keep the airport warm. We should help protect justice."

This tweet had no photos, only words, yet it still had a lot of retweets, comments, and likes, with most people agreeing with the celebrity, and hoping for all retweeted photos to be deleted.

There were quite a few celebrities and well-known public figures among the retweeters and commenters, one of whom was the actor who played Arya Stark in "The Game of Thrones." She retweeted it with the comment, "No one!"

Asia definitely had the most discussion about this incident. People stopped guessing who the hero was but began debating which country he was from. Based on the blurry silhouette, the man was East Asian. He was either Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

While Chinese and Japanese were still guessing, South Korea went ahead and confirmed the hero as from their country.

If Meng Fan knew this, he would be so frustrated.

If South Koreans realized who was really the hero, they would be frustrated too. After all, Meng Fan got on Hot Topics twice for beating South Koreans.

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Chapter 298: Arriving in Japan

The photo was taken in a rush, but its angle was fantastic. The light in the photo was also inspired; not only did it obscure the faces of the two people, it also enhanced the mood of the scene. You could associate all kinds of personality traits, character, and meaning to the photo.

But for some people, Meng Fan was not hidden at all.

Meng Caitang, who heard about the airport incident, recognized him right away.

Other sisters of his also recognized him instantly.

Other people, who spent a lot of time with Meng Fan, as well as people who knew where Meng Fan went, also guessed it was Meng Fan, even if they didn't recognize the photo.

The people who realized it was Meng Fan were mostly his family or good friends. They felt proud and worried, they also realized the serious nature of this incident, and chose to stay silent. They didn't talk about it even if they knew the people next to them realized the same thing.

They could only marvel inside their heads.

"What is it?"

After they finished a night shoot and showered, Bai Zhi went to Meng Caiwei's room and crawled into her comforter. Looking at Meng Caiwei's expression, she looked over, but Meng Caiwei locked her screen.

"Hey, what are you hiding? What are you looking at?"

The two of them played a bit. Bai Zhi didn't go back to her room; she wanted to crash here. It was late, but she still scrolled on her phone, which was how she saw the "Anonymous Hero" photo. Her eyes went big as she looked at Meng Caiwei.

Meng Caiwei had closed her eyes already.

Bai Zhi resisted asking, but she was a hundred percent sure the man in the photo was Meng Fan.๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐‘’๐—…๐‘›๐‘’xt.๐’ธ๐—ˆ๐•ž

She knew Meng Fan was in Singapore during this time, that he was going to Japan later. She even knew Meng Caiwei had arranged a dinner for him with Satomi Ishihara in Japan.

Since she always paid attention to Meng Fan's figure, of course she recognized him.

"Oh my god!"

Bai Zhi breathed deeply for three times, but she still couldn't push down the shock and worry in her mind.

She also knew Meng Caiwei was looking at the same news earlier.

She prayed for Meng Fan. Please, don't let anything happen to this man!

Wu Tong didn't find out until the next morning, after she finished her morning jog. She learned the news at Hu Heng's workshop. Right away, she found a quiet place outside to call Meng Fan.

โ€ฆ

The flight was delayed for almost three hours. After more than six hours in flight, the plane landed at Haneda Airport at close to 10 p.m.

The minute the plane touched down, a voice prompt sounded in Meng Fan's head.

"Ding! Host survived until December 14th, 2019 and successfully reached Japan. Special mission of [Continued Life Against the Heavens] is completed. Reward: 10 points of attributes."

Finally, he did it.

At this moment, Meng Fan truly felt reborn.

He can continue his unfinished life!

It was a coincidence.

Just when Meng Fan breathed a sigh of relief, another prompt came up.

"Ding! Mission of [Professional Manga Artist] completed. Won title of [Professional Manga Artist] (Drawing skill 5, Settings 5, Scriptwriting 5)."

Plus 1000 points of progress reward.

A few days ago, Uncle Kun told Meng Fan the comic book's seventh volume was being published. It must have been published today, so now he has completed the task of publishing ten volumes of the comic book. As for the sales goal, he completed it a while ago.

With attribute rewards from this title, Meng Fan's Settings and Scriptwriting ability went from 7 to 12, which was huge progress. With these attributes, Meng Fan could now create original comics from the stories in his mind.

As for drawing skills, he was now at 30 with 5 points added, he was now spectacular in this area.

"Big brother, we're here."

En'en tugged on Meng Fan, who was lost in his thoughts. "Big brother, unbuckle me."

Meng Fan focused and unbuckled En'en's safety belt and helped her down. Then he stood up, helping people unload their suitcases, then walked off the plane holding En'en's hand.

Due to the flight's special circumstances, all the passengers used the VIP tunnel. The airport also arranged cars to take the passengers to their hotels or other destinations.

"Mr. M, do you live in Japan or are you visiting?" En'en's parents caught up to them. Her dad asked Meng Fan.

"I'm here on vacation." Meng Fan added, "My last name is Meng. You can call me Little Meng."

The couple seemed excited. En'en's mom said, "We are in Japan for business. We have a home here. If you don't mind, you can stay with us. It'll be easy for you to do tours nearby, too. Old Xu here can be your guide. Please allow us to play host."

Meng Fan said gratefully, "I already have a hotel reservation." Seeing En'en's disappointment, he stroked her hair and said, "How about this? If you tell me where your house is, I'll go find you. I want to see if you have any good snacks."

The couple couldn't insist, given Meng Fan's answer. They gave him their address. "Which hotel are you staying at? We have a car here, we can take you there. En'en wanted to spend more time with you anyway."

Meng Fan nodded. "I'm at the Aman Kyoto hotel. If it's not inconvenient, I'd ride with you guys."

"Aman? OK."

The name surprised the couple, as the hotel was one of the best in Kyoto.

"M-san, how are you!"

At this time, an older man ran up to them. This was the other hostage. His neck had a band-aid covering a wound from a wooden nail. He bowed to Meng Fan, speaking in Japanese, then he looked at En'en's parents, hoping for translation help.

En'en's dad said to Meng Fan. "This is Goro Takahashi. He was hoping to have your contact information. He wanted to take you to dinner. Also, if you need help with anything in Japan, he'll do his best to help."

Meng Fan smiled at the older man. "I'll be back in China in just a few days. My trip is short. If I came here again, I'd definitely pay you a visit."

En'en's dad translated Meng Fan's words to Goro Takahashi, who seemed crushed that he didn't get Meng Fan's contact information. Still, he handed over his business card with both hands and said, "If M-san is interested in manga, I can give you a tour of Kodansha Comics."

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Chapter 299: The Legends of Manga

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

"Kodansha Comics?"

Meng Fan didn't know much Japanese, but he could read most of the words on the business card Goro Takahashi gave him. Mr. Takahashi was an editor at Kodansha Comics. Given the style of the business card, he wasn't an average editor either.

This was a pleasant surprise for Meng Fan!

Before and after he was reborn, his sisters sponsored him with many gifts on this trip. Before the rebirth, he was most interested in CV concerts and "meet and greets." Now, he was more interested in visiting Shueisha Comics and meeting the comic artist Eiichiro Oda.

Of course, before the rebirth, he also loved manga and would have liked to visit Shueisha Comics and meet Eiichiro Oda. The visit, however, would just have been a regular visit.

Now, the purpose of his visit would be different.

If he was rewriting his life, what would he need?

Manga would undoubtedly be a big part of his new life!

He didn't realize one of the hostages was an editor, and a senior one at that, from a comics publisher. This was fantastic news for Meng Fan.

Perhaps it was Good Luck 1 in effect? It was a big coincidence.

Kodansha Comics was one of Japan's three largest comic publishers. The other two are Shueisha Comics and Shogakukan Comics. Together, the three manga publishers are known as the Gosanke.

Most of the Japanese comics popular with fans worldwide came from these three manga publishers.

Kodansha Comics is known as an advancing giant in the industry.

The publisher with the longest history, Kodansha Comics, is regarded as the boss of publishers (not just comics) in Japan. It has serialized "Attack on Titan,""GetBackers,""Fairy Tail,""Initial D,""Legend of the Dragon's Son,""Vagabond,""Ghost in the Shell,""The Three-Eyed One,""SM,""Card Captor,""The Tales of Genji,""Parasyte," and other well-known mangas.

Shogakukan Comics is a publisher known for comics for kids and teens.

As one of the largest comprehensive publishers in Japan, Shogakukan Comics focused on elementary school students as its audience early on. Based on the names of its comics, it's obvious that it has published many children's classics, some of which had even mesmerized grown ups, including: "Case Closed,""Pokรฉmon,""Doraemon,""Urusei Yatsura,""Ranma ,""Inuyasha," and many more.

Shueisha Comics is a publisher with some of the most talented comic artists in the industry.

Shueisha Comics publishes many comic magazines for teens, the most well-known of which is Weekly Shลnen Jump, which has the highest circulation in Japan's serialized comics. The magazine has released plenty of hits such as "One Piece,""Naruto,""Bleach,""Gin Tama,""Dragon Ball,""Yu-Gi-Oh!""Saint Seiya,""Slam Dunk,""Chibi Maruko-chan,""Food Wars!" and so on.

Other comic houses within Shueisha Comics have released legendary comics including: "To Love Ru,""One Punch Man,""Tokyo Ghoul,""The Prince of Tennis,""NANA," and more.

The number of comic classics published and serialized by Shueisha Comics is simply countless.

Shueisha Comics was founded last among the three legendary publishers. In the beginning, it was an entertainment magazine under Shogakukan Comics; now, it holds its own in the industry.

Most comic artists hope to have a chance to serialize their work in a Shueisha Comics magazine, including many Chinese comic artists, Meng Fan among them. This is true despite the shrinking comics market in Japan in recent years.

This is just like how, for most actors, their dream is to be a movie star in Hollywood โ€” including most Chinese actors such as Meng Caiwei โ€” even though China is now the world's largest movie market.

That's not to say that without being serialized in Japan or entering Hollywood, one would give up on the Chinese market.

Meng Fan put away the business card, his face showing happiness. He smiled at Goro Takahashi. "To be honest, I'm a college student majoring in comics. I actually have a series right now. One of my goals for this trip has to do with comics. I can't believe I get to meet one of the trailblazers of the industry today, I'm so honored."

Goro Takahashi looked surprised after he heard the translation from En'en's dad. The reason he introduced himself: young people like Meng Fan were usually comic fans, so he figured maybe he could thank Meng Fan in this way. He had no idea Meng Fan was studying comics and a comic artist as well.

After Goro Takahashi shook hands again with Meng Fan, he said, "M-san, please, allow me to take you on a tour of Kodansha Comics."

"Absolutely. It would be my honor."

The two of them exchanged their contact information and made a date to meet again.

As he walked out, Meng Fan received at least fifty more business cards!

There were maybe even more than fifty, as they all came from the passengers on the flight, mixed in with numbers from several flight attendants.

While people knew it was unlikely Meng Fan would keep in touch with them, they clamored to leave him their contact information. It wasn't because they wanted to copy others, they just really wanted to befriend a legendary person like Meng Fan.

Based on the names on the business cards, most of them were Japanese, some were expats in Japan, and a few were Chinese. It was not an exaggeration to say that if Meng Fan had thick skin, he could eat and play for free for the next three to six months in Japan. He would have a great time too, since people traveling from Singapore to Japan were usually pretty successful.

Just like En'en's dad, after Meng Fan chatted with him after they got in the car leaving the airport, he learned the older man dealt in real estate, red wine, and soy sauce, but he wasn't a real estate developer.

The biggest coincidence was when Meng Fan realized they were from Hangzhou, too. He almost swore when he heard their home was near his school!

It was a good thing they weren't from the same district, just a nearby one; otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence.

When En'en learned Meng Fan studied near her house, she was even more excited. She wanted to go back to China with him, leaving her parents chagrined.

When their car entered the financial district of Otemachi, it stopped briefly at the Aman Kyoto Hotel, part of Otemachi-Tower.

Meng Fan and En'en made sure to meet again, then he left under En'en's reluctant gaze, carrying his suitcase.

The Aman Kyoto Hotel wasn't an entire building; it was in fact located on the top six floors of the Otemachi-Tower. The hotel lobby was on the 33rd floor, making the hotel rooms even higher. Because of this, the Aman Kyoto Hotel was known as "a luxury above the city."

As soon as Meng Fan entered the elevator, his phone rang. It was from Wu Tong.

"Are you in Japan?"

"Yes, I just got to the hotel."

"How long are you staying?"

"Two or three days?"

"You're not coming back earlier?"

"If I got everything done with the manga, I would go back earlier. Why, you miss me or worry about me?"

"So you do know!"๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐‘’๐—…๐‘›๐‘’xt.๐’ธ๐—ˆ๐•ž

Wu Tong did sound a little displeased, but it was mostly worrying. Then she said, "Seventh Bro is taking his team to Kyoto today. When he gets there, you can head out and have him follow you, or have someone follow you."

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Chapter 300: Legend of the Mountains and Seas

Wu Ji and his team went to Japan for an Asian MMA training camp. In addition to the training, there's a few friendship games and regular competitions, too.

The fighting conditions in Japan were considered very good in Asia, featuring both an excellent social foundation and atmosphere, as well as plenty of competition experience. Kyoto, especially, is the best site for large fight competitions in Asia outside of Macau.

When Wu Tong realized Wu Ji was going to Japan โ€” and after finding out about events at the Singapore airport โ€” she instantly called Meng Fan. It sounded like Meng Fan was staying a few days in Japan, so she instantly thought of having Meng Fan find Wu Ji.

She was still worried for Meng Fan!

While she was proud of Meng Fan, she was still concerned. She was afraid there was an organization behind the hijacking; if they found out Meng Fan's identity, they'd do him harm. Yet Meng Fan was so relaxed he still wanted to be out in Japan, which wouldn't be as safe as China.

She heard previously that Meng Fan was going to Japan after Singapore โ€” something to do with manga โ€” now that Meng Fan told her the same thing, she didn't want to force him to come back to China. However, she still ordered Meng Fan to stay at the hotel and not go anywhere before Wu Ji's arrival.

After some more conversation, Wu Tong could hear Meng Fan was checking into the hotel, so she hung up.

The lobby for the Aman Kyoto Hotel was on the 33rd floor. The tallest part of the lobby was almost 30 meters high, crossing six levels, and proved to be a stunning sight when you looked up.

The interior of the hotel lobby featured a distinctive style similar to Japanese lanterns, presenting a different effect with the light and shadows, depending on the time of day. It was very unique.

The huge lobby offered check-in services as well as meals and drinks. One could enjoy an afternoon tea, all meals, plus drinks and coffee and more. In the afternoons and evenings, female artists in kimonos would play piano and provide art performances.๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐‘’๐—…๐‘›๐‘’xt.๐’ธ๐—ˆ๐•ž

To Meng Fan, the most striking thing about the lobby, other than the grandiose size, was its symmetry.

When he was checking in, the employee offered him a welcome drink and hot towel. Then, he was led upstairs.

His second eldest sister, Meng Cailian, reserved a luxury suite of almost 80 sqm for him. Divided into a bedroom, lounge, office, and bathroom, the room was large and comfortable.

Since Meng Fan was Chinese, the employee taking him upstairs was bilingual in Chinese and Japanese. After she explained the facilities of the room and other services, she left after delivering a welcome letter, snacks, and a room entry card.

The entry card was built into a belt buckle and could be worn on his waist when he went out to prevent losses and make it easy to carry. Of course, this belt buckle was a custom design and made an ordinary belt look quite upscale.

What if you didn't have a belt?

Then you could put the entry card wherever you liked.

After Meng Fan closed the door, the first thing he did was take a shower. It had been more than 24 hours since he last bathed, not to mention the six-hour-plus flight he just had.

"Ahh, this is nice."

Meng Fan walked into the bathroom and turned to the right, which had a toilet next to the double counter. There's plenty of room in the bathroom; other than a shower and a jacuzzi, there's also a sauna.

All of the toiletry products in the bathroom were the Aman Kyoto Hotel brand, with great quality and a full selection.

After a shower, Meng Fan started soaking in the jacuzzi.

Then, he sweated for ten minutes in the sauna. So relaxing!

If Meng Fan wanted, a phone call would bring a massage therapist, male or female. Female therapists would undoubtedly be pretty; however, they were medical therapists, and there's nothing funny with their services.

After a relaxing time in the bathroom, Meng Fan ordered a meal and went toward the TV console in front of the bed.

The TV was hidden inside the console and could be moved up or down.

Behind the TV console was a minibar. After he opened it, he saw all kinds of beverage containers for tea, wine, coffee, and others. There was a fridge full of soft drinks, water, milk, and juice, all of which were free and were refilled daily. If one drank them all and wanted more, it could be refilled for free as well. In fact, if you didn't want the drinks in the minibar, handmade coffee could be delivered to you.

The environment was amazing; the service was comprehensive. After all, this hotel charged more than 100,000 Japanese Yen per day.

This time of year wasn't the peak tourism season, so the hotel charged 120,000 to 130,000 Yen for this kind of room. If it was the peak season, a smaller room would run to more than 10,000 Chinese yuan.

When it came to peak and off-peak tourism seasons in Japan, there was an interesting theory. For all southeast Asian countries including Japan, the peak and off-peak seasons depended largely on whether the Chinese people had holidays.

In a little while, Meng Fan's meal was delivered. It was a two-people dinner as requested. The food looked beautiful, the kind some girls would take photos of before reluctantly eating. The taste wasn't bad.

Meng Fan wasn't in the habit of checking food for poison. He inhaled the food quickly, then he started pacing in the hotel suite.

Even if Wu Tong didn't give the order, Meng Fan didn't plan to go out. He didn't even want to go to a CV meet and greet in the afternoon.

Why?

He was staying in to draw manga!

By now, he had 12 points in comic book Settings and Scriptwriting attributes. The story in his mind had been plotted over and over. He also had an outline and many sources of pictures, so he wanted to focus and draw today. He planned to have an opening chapter before visiting Shueisha Comics and Kodansha Comics โ€” he wanted to submit his manuscript!

There were also 10 points in attributes he didn't assign yet.

Meng Fan started thinking of how to assign them.

The 10 points weren't too many, but they weren't too few either.

Wait!

Meng Fan remembered something else. He hadn't completed [100 Champion Honor Points] yet. If he got this title, he'd receive 3 points in Drawing skill, Settings, and Scriptwriting as rewards in attributes.

Currently, in his bank card, in addition to the 500,000 yuan from Bai Zhi, he also got paid for the royalties from 8th Station streaming platform last month. In addition, there were the 100,000 dollars in reward from the airport and Japanese airline, which was given to Meng Fan after a conversion to Chinese yuan, so he definitely had more than a million yuan now.

He made money so he could spend it.

Meng Fan was perfectly happy using the one million yuan to get nine properties. Strictly speaking, it was 500,000 yuan; after all, half of what he rewarded him belonged to himself.

He logged onto his account on Penguin Animation and Comics Online, and in a flash, he added 100 million Penguin Bucks into his account!

He was going to use them all on "There's a Spirit Underground" but thought it was too selfish.

He clicked on "Create New Work" in the publishing platform. After careful consideration, he entered the name of his original comic, "Legend of the Mountains and Seas," and uploaded a book cover he drew earlier. Now the book was ready for review.

Meng Fan called his editor, Yixin, asking him to help review and approve the book.

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Chapter 301: A Hundred Million in Rewards

As soon as the editor, Yixin, heard Meng Fan's request to review and approve the newly created work, his eyes lit up immediately.

The last two Meng Fan's serialized comics performed really well on the Penguin Animation Network. And Meng Fan was still his junior! But these two comics hanging under his name didn't really have much to do with him, hehe.

Needless to say, "Guide to Campus RoMANce" was over and had not been signed yet. If the contract wasn't signed, the website will definitely not spend resources to promote it. Naturally, it also won't get any copyright. Contrary to what one may expect, there is profit, but it's all in gratuities โ€” and if the gratuities are high, one can get some money.

As for "There's a Spirit Underground", whether it was clicks, recommendations, or sales, they were all extremely abundant during this period. The sales scores, especially, have been hanging on the top of the best-selling list for a long time. But this comic was directly linked to the copyright department, and it had little to do with his editor-in-chief. Talking about gains, as far as Yixin is concerned, its results were the best among the popular best-selling comics.

However, even though these two comics have little to do with him, Yixin still cares about his junior very much, so he will sign his next comic.

It wasn't only his opinion that in terms of painting skills and style, he was well-known in the industry as the top of the top. It was not an exaggeration to say that even if Meng Fan's next comic โ€” given that it is an original and not an adaptation โ€” will have a plot as crappy as a piece of shit, his drawings will still be fiery!

Just like "Guide to Campus RoMANce." The plot was really average, but one cannot resist the great painting skills. No need to even mention the amount of clicks on the cover on the website. Reportedly, many people purchase physical books only because they have a good-looking protagonist and a beautiful cover.

With Meng Fan's painting skills and a little help in writing scripts from some screenwriters, it will become a hot topic in a split second.

Yixin had talked with Meng Fan before and knew that Meng Fan was working on an original comic. Of course, all along he's been waiting to sign up Meng Fan's next work. Not to mention the profits, Yixin obviously hoped to get his hands on the chance to distribute a best-selling comic.

And now, he finally got it!

It's just that when he looked at the back-end, there was only a title and a cover, without any content whatsoever.

He couldn't help the curiosity and asked Meng Fan about it, then he felt the urge to curse.

Where is the content to match the title!

Is this lousy title everything you have to show?!

He asked once again, feeling more panicked. He told Meng Fan that this time he should sign the contract and assured Meng Fan that he would strive for the best conditions for him, but Meng Fan still wasn't convinced.

However, after a moment Meng Fan finally said that if he decides to act on it, Penguin surely will be his first choice.

OK, it's not rubbish. Everything started here; it definitely is the first choice.

At that moment, Yixin was itching to rush to Hangzhou to find Meng Fan and have a good chat, but when he heard that Meng Fan was in Japanโ€ฆ For realโ€ฆ

Can't afford it.

After hanging up the phone, he quickly finished the review.

After reviewing, Yixin habitually opened the comic page to make sure that the review brought success.

A book title and a cover.

Annoyed, he summarized: "This is my first original comic. The upload date is yet to be determined."

Fun!

Yixin clicked on the "X" button, closing the web page. He stood up and left to make a cup of tea with chrysanthemum and wolfberry in order to calm his nerves, and then sat back in his seat. An editor sitting next to him suddenly gasped in surprise: "Tuck me, ten million in gratuities!"

"What ten million?"

"For the comic!"

Large rewards were broadcasted on the website. In the case of Qidian Chinese Online, it required millions for a reward to be publicized โ€” if you use the app, there will be a treasure box floating โ€” and in the case of Penguin Animation Network, 100,000 is enough to get broadcasted. Of course, if it was worth millions, the broadcasting time will be much longer, and the frequency will also be greater.

There haven't been many rewards for Penguin Animation Network. The 100,000 rewards have happened. Only one one-million reward has been donated so far. Up to date, the reward worth ten million Penguin Coins has not yet occurred.

Until now.

Ten million Penguin Coins equals one hundred Huaxia currency!

"Who's the editor of this "Legend of the Mountains and Seas?" Awesome job!"

"Holy cow, Meng Fan?! This one is Yixin's, right?"

"Meng Fan is publishing a new comic? When?"

"Ah, looks like it's a new project. It has nothing but the cover!"

"Come on, again? Is the site still repeating the broadcast?"

"Yixin, what's the matter?"

All the editors who crowded inside the office looked toward Yixin, but Yixin was dumbstruck. How the duck was he supposed to know what's going on?

He logged in to check and then became even more dumbfounded, as it was Meng Fan's own account that rewarded millions of Penguin Coins to "Legend of the Mountains and Seas!"

Was it an error in the system?

Or did Meng Fan go mad?

No!

It wasn't ten million; it was twenty million!

"Shoot, another golden treasure chest appears!"

An editor next to him checked the app and cried: "Another one, one more, a few more in a row!"

Has the system actually broken down?

Yixin kept violently refreshing the website, but the comic page was loading very slowly. After successfully refreshing the site for a few times, the 20 million announcement was still there.

"Check the back-end!"

Yixin checked the back-end and saw that there have been ten rewards, each worth 10 million.

"Stop, there are no more treasure chests."

"Yixin, look again! How many 10 million rewards have been there in total?"

Yixin refreshed the back-end again, and saw ten times 10 million, that is, 100 million Penguin Coins, which equaled a whole million Huaxia coins.

Yixin was dumbfounded, as were the other editors.

What the duck was it all about?

The one million and ten million rewards appeared in the app. All the app users can see them and many people will grab the treasure chests. After opening them, they will get some coupons, experience and even Penguin Coins. Of course, you need to collect the comic before opening the treasure chest.

Ten gold treasure chests in a flash made "Legends of the Mountains and Seas," which had only a title and a cover, reach the number of more than 200,000 readers.

"I'm a bit confused."๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐ฅ๐‘›๐—ฒxt.๐•”๐’๐“‚

Yixin drank a large mouthful of chrysanthemum wolfberry tea, and then hurriedly called Meng Fan.

"Junior Meng, just now, a lot of rewards have emerged for your new comic. The rewarding user is your account. Are they really your own rewards?"

"Yeah."

After the wave of operations, Meng Fan has finished the [Collector of Millions] mission, obtained the title and most importantly the attributes. Now he had 15 points in Scriptwriting and in Setting, and 34 points in Drawing Skills! After smoothly completing the task, he was in a great mood.

Yixin heard Meng Fan casually admit the fact and continued feeling puzzled. He couldn't understand it.

"Umm, but why did you do that?"

"Can't I reward myself?" Meng Fan asked. "I think I drew pretty well."

Yixin was speechless.

"But have you finished drawing? What, is this million yuan for a cover only? You, you can reward yourself, but what's the point in giving money to the website?"

"Nevertheless, it serves as motivation from me to me," Meng Fan laughed. "Anyway, I see that after giving out the rewards, I got several hundred thousand readers. Whatever then, it's the promotion expenses."

Meng Fan couldn't explain it to Yixin. He could just say he didn't need to explain himself to anyone. Anyway, his explanation was unclear. Everyone could interpret it however they wanted. After a while, he said he needs to take care of something, and then he hung up.

Yixin looked at his colleagues and shrugged helplessly.

"Don't look at me. I understand nothing!"

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Chapter 302: Starting Like a Dog

After hanging up on Yixin, Meng Fan started thinking of adding the points.

He only had 10 points to assign. The system already rewarded him with a lot of attributes; it was worth considering how to assign them.

He thought 10 points weren't bad, but after thinking about it, they weren't enough!

He should get organized.

Meng Fan put the emphasis on attributes related to comics, including Drawing Skill, Hand Speed, Imagination, Scriptwriting, Settings, and as he thought about it, Imagination.

Among these six attributes, his Drawing Skill didn't need any more points. He was already at 34, not counting the magical pen. If he added anymore, it'd be too much.

Imagination was at 11, which was very crucial, maybe even more than Drawing Skill, Scriptwriting, and Settings. It definitely needed more points.

Scriptwriting and Settings were both at 15; they looked alright, but they could use more points.

Hand Speed was at 19. If he wanted to be finicky, he could add 1 point and make it 20.

Observation was 4. This was an attribute from the [Travelling Deity] task. Meng Fan didn't care about it before. However, recently, after he used accumulated points to exchange for 3 points here, he really reaped a lot of benefits. It was quite useful, and he could use more of it.

In addition, the [Travelling Deity] task wasn't completed yet. When he did, he'd get 4 in Observation, not to mention other attributes.

Meng Fan reminded himself: When he got back, he'd need to make time for camping at scenic districts.

After much hesitation, Meng Fan made a decision.

Hand Speed 1โ€ฆ When he took a closer look, he realized that when he exchanged points for attributes, he didn't do any for Hand Speed since he was already pretty fast. Now that there's over 1,600 points, he'd use 1,000 points for 1 attribute, and make it 20!

Add 4 to Imagination, make it 15!

Add 2 to Observation, make it 6. When [Travelling Deity] is done, it'd be 10!

Add 2 to Scriptwriting and Settings, both increased to 17!

Drawing Skill 34, Scriptwriting 17, Settings 17, Imagination 15, with this foundation of attributes, Meng Fan couldn't wait to draw his mangaโ€ฆ Wait, he still needed the drawing paper.

Ding dong.

When the door bell sounded, Meng Fan opened the door to receive a big roll of drawing paper. He thanked the hotel employee profusely.

The employee shook her hands, saying it was part of her job, then asked if Meng Fan needed coffee or anything else. When Meng Fan said he needed a big cup of espresso, the employee was not only unbothered but quite excited.

She'd get to see this charismatic guest again. His voice was simply amazing; she'd never get tired of hearing it.

In a short while, the employee brought over a big cup of coffee, as well as some fruit prepared just for him.

"Thank you."

When the employee was leaving, Meng Fan called out. "Sorry, please wait a moment."

The employee turned around in surprise. Meng Fan brought over a basket of laundry.

"Is there a laundry service here?"

"Yes."

"Please bring it down for me."

"No problem. Is there anything else?"

"No, I'm good. Thank you."

"Call the service desk at any time if you need anything."

The employee happily took away the laundry. She was even thinking of washing his clothes herself, but it was just a thought. The hotel had a dedicated staff for laundering as well as drying and ironing.

Back in the office area of his suite, Meng Fan gulped down a lot of coffee. He turned on the streaming device. The simulated screen showed the raw materials, outline, and picture resources he'd set up before. He started to focus and think.

Before he began the manga, Meng Fan had thought and tried a lot. He used up plenty of drawing paper. Now that he's focused, the attributes began to show their effects.

He didn't toss all of his drafts. Using the skills he has now, he screened them and combined them with follow-up stories and an outline for a possible opening volume.

The core story in "Legend of the Mountains and Seas" was something Meng Fan had thought of and tried to perfect for a long time. The background was inspired by the classic Chinese book, "Classic of the Mountains and Seas."

"Classic of the Mountains and Seas" is an ancient book about the mythic geography and ancient beasts of China. The creation date was said to be in the early Qin Dynasty, or maybe the early Han Dynasty. The author is unknown. Modern scholars agreed the book wasn't written in one era, nor did it have a single author. The version available now was compiled by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin of the Han Dynasty.

The 18 chapters currently available covered content including: ancient history, geography, culture, transportation in China and abroad, customs, myths, minerals, and more. Ancient and contemporary scholars had different understanding of the content. For example, historian Sima Qian criticized the content as ludicrous and not worth referencing, while writer Lu Xun thought it related to Chinese shamanism and wizardry. Many modern scholars considered the book to be of geographic value in the early years.

Using "Classic of the Mountains and Seas" as a backdrop, Meng Fan referenced some of the fantastic beasts, and even used its geography as a blueprint for the manga.๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐ฅ๐‘›๐—ฒxt.๐•”๐’๐“‚

There were many mountains, lakes, and nations mentioned in "Classic of the Mountains and Seas;" the geographic size was also enormous. Not only did the book record ancient China, it covered overseas areas such as the nation of Fusang, or current day Japan.

Meng Fan used the classic book as a blueprint, then added his own creations and supplements to make a world for manga.

The geography, clans, and mythic animals in his manga either came from or were adapted from "Classic of the Mountains and Seas," only with the timeline moved to much later โ€” into the Firearms Era.

An era where myths, fantastic beasts, firearms, and machinery co-existed!

In addition, Meng Fan used myths from China and other regions as well, such as Japan, northern Europe, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Egypt, and more. He was quite ambitious. He wanted to use this manga to create a compilation of myths of the world.

Of course, given the scope of this world, it would take a while to explain it all. He needed to use the manga's plot development to gradually introduce it. The part involving myths could be in the mid- to latter phase of the manga. In other words, the world building was to serve as the content.

The protagonist is a young man who accidentally became involved in the world, which began when he met a dog. The dog's prototype came from a creature called the shanhui in "Classic of the Mountains and Seas," which was first seen in Mt. Yufa.

Shanhui was not a great name, but Mt. Yufa sounded cool. Plus, in the classic book, the creature was described as "likable," and "smiles at everyone." Meng Fan still wanted to change the name though and decided to call the dog Yufa.

Alright, he'll call the first volume "Starting Like a Dog." It was embarrassing.

A sunny young man, an adorable and not-too-smart pet, plus a starting plot which affects the fate of the whole village โ€” it wasn't a bad way to get into this world.

He revised the outline, added detailsโ€ฆ the drawing starts now!

While Meng Fan was concentrating on drawing his manga, there was much fanfare in the comment area for the "Legend of the Mountains and Seas," where there's only a book title and cover. Even Meng Fan's fans couldn't stay calm. The various manga forums were also having heated discussions.

The reason? How Meng Fan shamelessly rewarded his own book a hundred million coins!

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Chapter 303: The IronFans

"Did Meng Fan really reward himself? Maybe it's an impersonator?"

"Impersonator, my ass! Take a look for yourself, it is the author's account!"

"Rewarding himself with a hundred million! That bastard has no shame!"

"And for a manga without a contract!"

"Come on, it doesn't even have content!"

"I despise such shameless acts, even those online web writers don't behave like that! Even if the money had been converted by a sockpuppet, how much boldness and confidence would it take!"

"Hahahahaha, I guess such a shameful thing could have been done only by Meng Fatty!"

"Why is it that Meng Fan is always doing only positive stuff, and yet I still think this kind of behavior is exactly his style?"

"Because Meng Fatty is trouble!"

"I don't care how much the reward is, I just want to know when the content will be uploaded."

"I can't wait for Meng Fatty's original work!"

"Can't wait 1!"

Dozens of fan groups were all discussing this matter, and it was indeed because rewarding yourself with 100 million Penguin Coins was a shameless and extremely peculiar thing to do. In addition, the fans' expectations for "Legend of the Mountains and Seas" were very high, too.

Meng Fan already mentioned his manga to fans a few times before. He also showed some character design and drawings of scenes during his live streams, and all the paintings were as breathtaking as they were refined. Of course, it was seen as teasing them now and then, but this time it was too much.

"Damn, guys! Quick, look at that!"

In one of the groups, a fan shared a screenshot. The screenshot was showing a list of fans of "Legend of the Mountains and Seas." The comic's page shows only the top ten places on such a list. Except for the dazzling 100,000,000 fan points "Donated by Meng Fan" at the top of the list, the following nine places were vacant. All of the fans got the "Leader" title.

"What the, someone rewarded again!"

"There are more than nine. Look."

Someone has posted a complete fan list, on which there were already more than a hundred people. The first thirty places got awarded with the "Leader" title, and about 100,000 Penguin Coins in rewards have been transferred.

"What the hell are these?"

"Look at the discussions of the nouveau riche!"

A few more screenshots have been sent to that fan group. These were all screenshots of a chatroom for people considered "new money". At the beginning, they were also discussing Meng Fatty's shamelessness and expressing their excitement about his manga, but later the atmosphere changed, as one of the magnates said he was going to take the opportunity. After a while, he shared a screenshot of himself being awarded the "Leader" title.

As soon as this screenshot came out, other magnates in the group could not stay calm. Commenting LOL and LMAO, this group has contributed at least a dozen "Leader" titles and a number of other rewards.

In the screenshot, one could see a few messages stating that apart from just losing their heads and spending money for the hell of it, some people also felt that they actually owed Meng Fan a reward. The reason for that was the fact that Meng Fan's two previous manga series โ€” of which one was a known short story, already finished, and the other one was an adaptation of a novel โ€” got few rewards and little appreciation.

To put it simply, for die-hard IronFans โ€” both manga fans and live stream fans โ€” it was as if they rewarded "There's a Spirit Underground."

What are the IronFans? It was a nickname for Iron Tower's fans.

Because his fanbase from live streaming and fanbase from the comic sharing website greatly overlap each other, there were many wealthy guys among Meng Fan's enthusiasts. Of course, the most important point was that the energy of live streams attracted people with temperament similar to Meng Fan's. All of them could be considered as quite nonchalant, doing what they want to do and finding joy in being proactive.

Shortly after successfully announcing "Legend of the Seas and Mountains," Meng Fan lost his position as top of the fan list, since now there were more than thirty "Leaders". At two in the afternoon, the amount of rewards started peaking. As of 3:30 p.m., more than a hundred people got the "Fan Leader" title!๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐ฅ๐‘›๐—ฒxt.๐•”๐’๐“‚

So many rewards!

There was no difference between fan clubs and parties whatsoever. Screenshots of discussions posted on online forums, gossip in manga artists' chatrooms, and threads published on Weibo were sent to the fans' group chats. These were exactly like "drinks" at the party. Don't get too bubbly!

Meng Fan shamelessly rewarded himself with 100 million Penguin Coins. And a hundred of the crazy IronFans already made enough donations to get the "Fan Leader" titles. The topic was discussed not only on various forums and in online chatrooms. Meng Fan's popularity was quickly rising on Weibo, too!

#MengFansLegendOfTheMountainsAndSeas was trending!

This time, fans certainly were being more lively and merry. That bastard somehow set in motion something extraordinary. This sense of participation and personal user experience was crucial!

A lot of people on Weibo got to know about this hot topic by clicking on the hashtag. After reading about the matter, they either had no words for the behavior of that son of aโ€ฆ or were amazed by this madman's actions and were spamming with likes. In short, it was getting more and more intense.

The editors and other employees of Penguin Animation Network were dumbfounded.

This kind of duckery was even possible?!

Of course, Meng Fan did not expect that rewarding himself with millions of coins would have such an effect, and he didn't yet know about this whole situation.

He had imagined the beginning of his manga, but actually drawing it seemed much more difficult. Starting really was the hardest part!

The first dialogue should take up more space than was usually used. Meng Fan drew all 38 panels.

With his current Drawing skills and Hand Speed, and considering that it's going to be a black-and-white manga, not a colored one โ€” some illustrations, as well as covers, title pages, and more will still be colored โ€” normally it would take him five hours max to complete all of the 38 panels. But this time, Meng Fan drew it from noon to ten at night!

After another hour of revision, Meng Fan was satisfied.

Although this speed was enough to shock people in the industry, it was really slow for Meng Fan!

After finishing this drawing, Meng Fan stood up and exercised for a bit. This activity made him hungry because he hasn't eaten since eleven in the morning. He ordered a meal, then checked his phone and saw several missed calls and some messages, two of which were important.

One was from Wu Tong, saying that Wu Ji has arrived in Japan. Meng Fan missed Wu Ji's call, so he'll need to call him back.

The other one was from the fourth big sister, Meng Caihe. As a matter of fact, Meng Caihe found him a tour guide. Because the incident at the Singapore Airport caused a three-hour delay in his flight, the guide wasn't able to welcome Meng Fan. And because his cellphone was automatically rejecting strangers' calls, she couldn't contact him.

Meng Fan replied to Wu Tong, saying that he was fine; he had been staying in the hotel to make manga, and he did not go anywhere. Then he called Wu Ji, asking if he had time to meet.

Regarding the guide, Meng Fan thought about it and told Meng Caihe to cancel the appointment. The purpose of this trip has changed; now he didn't plan on sightseeing and having fun, so he didn't need a guide. As for translating and stuff like that, there were online apps for interpreting and he understood a bit of Japanese. He can manage.

Ding dong.

The waiter pushed in the food trolley, with way more food than at noon.

After eating, he continued to draw. He was to visit Shueisha tomorrow afternoon. He better produce five parts to show them.

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Chapter 304: Meeting the Maestro

Initially, Meng Fan had plans in the afternoon and evening of the 14th: a meet-and-greet and a CV concert. Since he got 10 points of attributes and the title of [Professional Manga Artist, he decided to crank out some comics and skipped the events.

It was hard to start drawing the first part of volume one, then, he couldn't stop.

The first part for "Legend of the Mountains and Seas" was longer than "Guide to Campus RoMANce" and "There's a Spirit Underground." In addition, all the other parts had at least 20 panels, with an average of 22 to 25 panels, meeting the daily serial criteria for Japanese manga magazines.

Naturally, he wanted to submit his manuscript in Japan, get approved, then get serialized.

It was challenging, but Meng Fan was confident in himself.

He already prepared the outline, details, characters, and scenarios. While the new attributes made Meng Fan start over, he also improved and fixed what he already did. With a draft in place, his drawing speed wouldn't be slow.

He started on the second part at around midnight. He did 25 panels, with 3-5 pictures per panel, which totaled more than 100 pictures. It took him just three hours to draw all of them, including post-production work.

If people knew how quickly he did all of this, they'd be shocked.

Usually, comic artists who were serialized in Japan needed five days to a week to finish one part, and that's assuming they had assistants doing the post-production and other work.

Meng Fan's Hand Speed at 20 was ten times faster than an average comic artist โ€” not including some who weren't so skilled or who drew by hand. Fast Hand Speed alone wouldn't be able to achieve all of this in three hours. Combined with supernatural Drawing Skills and Imagination, however, it was possible.

There were many advantages to having great Drawing Skills; he barely needed to fix anything, and he was much more expressive. An average artist would need a lot of room to express something, but Meng Fan just needed a few strokes.

Meng Fan's drawing was not fancier. If anything, it was simpler. But, these simple strokes were striking and touched one's soul.

OK, in spite of all this, Meng Fan still overestimated himself. It wasn't possible to draw five parts in one night.

When he finished the second part, it was already 3 a.m. Meng Fan could stay up all night easily, and he was too excited to sleep. He stood up and moved a little, then kept drawing until 6 a.m., finishing the third part.

When the third part was done, he was tired and slept for around two hours. For the fourth part, he agonized over a plot development, spending almost two hours to convince himself and fixing the content. When he was finally done, it was around 1:30 p.m.

Great!

This will do.

Meng Fan ordered food, took a quick shower, then grabbed his manuscript to go downstairs. In the corner of the hotel lobby, he wolfed down some food, then asked the hotel for a car to go to Akihabara.

Akihabara, on the boundaries of the four commercial districts of Kyoto, was once a street of electronic stores. Now, it was a street popular with fans of the AGCN culture (animation, games, comics, and novels).

If the Akihabara of the electronics era was a steely, masculine guy, then the district today can only make you say, 'So pretty, like a cute boy.'

Akihabara was the purpose of Meng Fan's trip. He was a true homebody, so Akihabara, a haven for AGCN culture, was a must-see on his visit to Kyoto. He really was visiting the mecca today, he was meeting Eiichiro Oda!

When Meng Fan got off at Akihabara, he could see elements of the AGCN culture everywhere. There were many people dressed in cosplay such as waitresses in maid costumes in front of coffeeshops.

After he waited a while at the scheduled meeting place, a thirty-something man showed up. The man didn't need to look too hard; Meng Fan was very recognizable. The man knew it was Meng Fan from a distance away as he said to himself, "This guy is really tall and good looking."

"Are you Meng-san?" The man asked. After Meng Fan nodded, he introduced himself. "I'm Hiroji Wada."

His Chinese wasn't very standard, but he could communicate without problems.

This Hiroji Wada was the referrer Meng Caiju found for Meng Fan. The man was the son of a senior person at Toei Animation. In the credits of some well-known Japanese comics-turned-animated films, one could find the name ofโ€ฆ his father.

Hiroji Wada worked in licensing rights of Japanese animations in China and collaborations with Chinese animation and games, which was how Meng Caiju could get half an hour of Eiichiro Oda's time with a phone call and have Hiroji Wada pick up Meng Fan personally.

"Meng-san, I'll take you on a tour of Mr. Oda's workshop first. Around three o'clock, he rests for half an hour. Normally, it's excellent if he can see you for ten minutes. I hope you understand."

As Hiroji Wada led Meng Fan toward their destination, he reminded Meng Fan of do's and don'ts, such as no questions about the plot of "One Piece," or any gossipy things not related to comics and more.

The Oda workshop was pretty much Eiichiro Oda's home in Kyoto. He both lived and worked here.

Meng Fan had heard of the habits of the maestro of comics, Eiichiro Oda, such as how he slept between two and five in the morning, and how he worked the rest of the day, working 16-hour days!

Of course, he didn't draw the entire time he worked, there was also plot discussions, looking for elements of scenarios, characters, and more.

A renowned comic artist, even though they have many assistants, still had a huge work volume. Also, Eiichiro Oda was a manga artist who insisted on doing a lot of the post-production work โ€” such as the timeline โ€” himself.

Very soon, they reached the Oda Workshop, a quiet place in a bustling area.

"Hiroji-san."

Hiroji Wada had made an appointment. As soon as they walked in, an assistant in the workshop came over to greet them. These assistants all wanted to be manga artists eventually, so they were very polite and respectful toward Hiroji Wada, someone with a connected dad in the industry, and Meng Fan was treated well by association.

Hiroji Wada had been there before, so he wasn't fascinated by everything like Meng Fan. He found a place to sit while the assistant took Meng Fan around the place.

Inside the workshop, "One Piece" elements could be seen everywhere: private bar, popcorn machine, making the place resemble a playground. There was also a claw machine filled with characters from "One Piece," none of which were available in the stores; Meng Fan was so envious.

After their tour, Meng Fan asked for the restroom and excitedly entered the "Jaws"-themed restroom.๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐ฅ๐‘›๐—ฒxt.๐•”๐’๐“‚

The workroom for Eiichiro Oda and his assistants was not open to the public, so Meng Fan didn't go in there.

Then, Meng Fan met the maestro of comics, Eiichiro Oda.

The maestro looked like his photo. Like many OP fans, Meng Fan was most concerned about the man's health. There were rumors of him having health problems earlier. Now that the man looked well in person, Meng Fan was so happy.

After an emotional introduction, Meng Fan chatted with Eiichiro Oda as a fellow manga artist. He didn't rely on a translator, using just his phone to help. Since his phone was connected to a streaming device, translation was fast and communication was easy.

Initially, Eiichiro Oda thought Meng Fan was just a fan of manga rather than a colleague. The older man was happy to discuss elements of the industry and became surprised by Meng Fan's comprehension of the art form. Drawing Skills, Settings, and Scriptwriting weren't just a number; the information in each category made Meng Fan's comments outstanding. While what he said wasn't groundbreaking, Eiichiro Oda acknowledged the younger man's level of knowledge and was into the discussion.

Meng Fan also asked some questions from his creative process and drawing experience, which Eiichiro Oda was happy to answer.

After some chatting, Eiichiro Oda then asked if Meng Fan also created comics; he took out the manuscript.

As soon as Eiichiro Oda saw the material, he looked focused and energized.

After another half-hour, Meng Fan said goodbye to Eiichiro Oda and Hiroji Wada at the workshop, leaving for Shueisha. In Meng Fan's hand was a recommendation letter from Eiichiro Oda.

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Chapter 305: Pride and Arrogance

"I really didn't expect Oda-san to chat with Meng-san for more than an hour!"

After Hiroji Wada came out, he seemed very surprised. Just now Meng Fan and Oda-san had been talking, and he felt too shy to join them. However, he could see that Meng Fan took out some sketches for Oda. Naturally, by this he concluded that Meng Fan was a manga artist. Also seeing Oda's recommendation letter, he asked: "Meng-san, is your visit to Shueisha related to manga submission?"

Meng Fan nodded and asked with a smile:

"Wada-san, could you recommend me to a good editor?"

"If you didn't have Oda-san's recommendation letter, of course I would be happy to help you. But with Oda-san's recommendation, mine has no use," Hiroji Wada laughed. "Although I also know some people in charge of Shueisha, it is really not as good as Oda-san's recommendation letter."

Half in Chinese, half in Japanese โ€” Meng Fan barely understood the sentence.

Oda's pirates made the old Shueisha come back to life and shine again. Naturally, the impact of his recommendation letter should be obvious.

However, Meng Fan got to understand the requirements and process of serialization in Shueisha beforehand. He also knew that having a recommendation letter did not mean that his manga can surely be serialized in a magazine published by Shueisha. The recommendation letter only increased his chances to bargain or to meet face-to-face with an editor. The later outcome depended on whether the terms were acceptable to both sides.

It also did not mean that if he can get serialized by Shueisha, Meng Fan would agree to any conditions.

As for his work, Meng Fan felt quite confident about its quality. Otherwise, he wouldn't get this recommendation letter from Oda!

Shueisha was located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, facing another manga publishing company, Shogakukan. Originally, Shueisha was separated from Shogakukan.

After a long period of competition and cooperation, nowadays the three Japanese manga publishers โ€” Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Hakusensha, which had been separated from Shueisha โ€” form the "Hitotsubashi Group," a rival of the "Otawa Group" led by Kodansha.

โ€” Shueisha Inc.!

After getting off the car and seeing the words hanging on the office building, Meng Fan couldn't help but break into a smile.

Formerly, he didn't understand what this "Inc." meant. He's always thought that this company was superb and wondered, what the hell is it?

These three letters could be very frequently seen on food, drinks and products made in Japan, as well as on various mangas, animes, TV series, movies, and the like.

People couldn't help but think of Japan as a lawful society. Those three letters looked like a mark of a gang, as if these companies were controlled by some mafia boss.

Later, he learned that "Inc." is equivalent to China's "shared company"!

The so-called Shueisha Inc., which meant Shueisha Shared Company, simply put forward the words meaning "shared company"!

"Meng-san."๐‘ต๐‘‚๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐ฅ๐‘›๐—ฒxt.๐•”๐’๐“‚

After getting off the car, Hiroji Wada said to Meng Fan: "One of the staff members will take you in. I still have some matters I need to take care of. I'll have the driver wait here for you, and if you're free tonight, Meng-san, I would like to treat you to dinner."

Meng Fan answered equally politely to Hiroji Wada's courtesy.

"There's no need for anyone to wait for me. After I finish here, I can go back by myself; it's alright. As for the dinner, I've already made plans. If we meet again in Huaxia, I will gladly eat with you, Wada-san."

Hiroji Wada was really polite. He naturally agreed with a smile to everything that Meng Fan said. However, he still insisted that the driver should wait to pick up Meng Fan.

A staff member of Shueisha came out, and Hiroji Wada left after telling her a few words.

"Please come in."

The staff member led Meng Fan inside. Simultaneously walking and introducing new places in Shueisha, she showed him around the company, telling Meng Fan about areas he will get to visit. The core area was definitely closed off to visitors. The places he can enter wereโ€ฆ

Barbara was spitting the words, speaking not Chinese or Japanese but English. As for the fact that Meng Fan didn't understand it, he also didn't seem to mind; his thoughts wandered uncontrolled. Anyway, when they came in, he was basically stunned.

"Wait a moment."

Meng Fan took out the recommendation letter and his phone. The translation app read out loud the input: "This is a recommendation letter from Oda-san. He also made an appointment with Mr. Muto Kentaro for me."

"Oda?"

The staff member curiously took Meng Fan's recommendation and gave it a look but didn't open it. Then she looked outside, gave Meng Fan one more attentive look, and said at last:

"Wait here for a moment, I'll help you."

She left Meng Fan in a resting area and quickly went towards the office of Shueisha's senior editor, Muto Kentaro. Not long after, she came back just as hurriedly. The change in attitude was obvious, and the words were all honorifics. She very respectfully led Meng Fan to the office. As for the recommendation letter, she had already given it to Muto Kentaro.

Japanese society was characterized by a relatively clear hierarchy, and the authority of a senior editor was huge. Unlike first-review editors, they get submissions and applications all the time.

If Meng Fan submitted his work in accordance with usual procedures, who knew when it would get reviewed. If you wanted to see someone who made decisions, you would have to go through several layers.

"Please sit."

The staff member led Meng Fan inside and left, very quietly closing the door behind her. At that moment, a skinny man sitting at the back of the office slightly nodded towards Meng Fan and asked him to sit down.

Meng Fan didn't engage in small talk. He handed the drafts, outline, and some of his drawings to Muto Kentaro.

Muto Kentaro seemed like a man who didn't like to speak. He looked at the received draft, and it took him no less than an hour to read it all. Even when he looked at the outline and the sketches, there was no expression on his face. But Meng Fan was able to catch astonishment and shock in his eyes, and then the slow return to calmness.

Even though Meng Fan had had some doubts, seeing these expressions calmed him down.

"Although there are some flaws, the problems aren't big. In short, it is a very good comic," Kentaro Muto finally spoke, using Japanese.

When he saw Meng Fan record it on his mobile phone and translate it, he frowned.

"Meng-san, you don't speak Japanese?", he asked.

"A little bit, but not proficiently."

Meng Fan answered truthfully, and then used the mobile phone to translate it.

"Then the dialogues in your comics were all translated by someone?"

"Yes."

It wasn't easy for Meng Fan to say that he translated it with the use of a smartphone. After all, the dialogues were succinct. Generally the app translators are unreliable and imprecise.

"So, you'll need a Japanese assistant."

Muto Kentaro then proceeded to ask Meng Fan a lot of questions. The first few questions were about his comics, and the latter ones were all related to Meng Fan himself.

"Meng-san, your work can be serialized in Shueisha. Whether it will be published in a weekly or monthly magazine, we will discuss later. Now we need to solve a few problems."

Muto Kentaro tapped his fingers on the table a few times and said: "Firstly, it's not a problem that you are Chinese. We've worked with several Chinese artists now and then in Shueisha. But if you are in China, it's a problem, therefore you need to move from China to Tokyo. Even if you drop out of school, we can arrange for you to take the entrance exams for universities here in Tokyo, including accommodation. This way, it will be convenient for submitting and discussing the plot."

"Secondly, the contracts we sign in Shueisha are exclusive contracts, so your comic serialized in China needs to be suspended or finished."

"Thirdly, there are many comic artists lining up in each and every of Shueisha's magazines. Although the quality of your work is good, you will not get the opportunity of serialization immediately. Of course, we will adjust your position on the ranking as much as possible, so that you can get a chance to serialize in half a year. And within these six months, I will recommend you as an assistant to a well-known mangaka, in order to increase your experience and understanding of Japanese comic industry."

"Fourthlyโ€ฆ"

"Regarding the contract's contents โ€” because you are recommended by Oda-san, and the quality of your comic is indeed high โ€” we will sign you with the conditions and salary offered to the strongest newcomers."

Meng Fan had come to understand Shueisha or the so-called Japanese comic industry before. He knew that terms for signing contracts were very harsh, but it was precisely because he knew that he was also aware these terms were unreasonable with the quality of his comics.

Moreover, thanks to his current Observation 6, Meng Fan could also capture the arrogance hidden in the eyes of Muto Kentaro as he was listing the conditions.

He entered the words into his mobile phone, and the translation was read:

"Firstly, now that the information is developed, whether it is for manga submission or plot discussion โ€” there's no need for me to move from China to Tokyo."

Meng Fan liked manga and seiyuu, but it didn't mean he liked Japanese people or the country. It was impossible for him to move from China to Japan.

"Secondly, if I remember correctly, Shueisha should still have a contract for cooperation."

Muto Kentaro raised his hand to stop him and said with a smile:

"Since Meng-san knows about the cooperation agreement, do you also know the requirements for it? First of all, in case of the cooperation agreement, our publisher will not give your manga good serialization, moreover you might get dropped at any time. Next, the cooperation agreement requires the comic author himself to have a great reputation in the industry, and Meng-san is a newcomer."

Meng Fan didn't even discuss the remaining conditions, as they were impossible to agree on. After thinking carefully, he said to Kentaro Muto: "Muto-san, the next words may come off as arrogant, but I still want to say something. I, myself, have high hopes and great confidence in my manga. I believe it can become a classic. I want to sign a cooperation agreement with your company to give the copyright of the comic in Japan wholly to your noble firm."

"Meng-san, I know that every mangaka is extremely confident in their work." Muto Kentaro had seen too many such arrogant authors. His face remained expressionless, only in his eyes was there a hint of disdain. Very calmly, he continued: "Considering that your work is really not bad, and Oda-san recommended you, I am willing to move the ranking forward for you. I promise serialization within three months. If you draw fast and the quality can be guaranteed, it's likely that you will be on 'Weekly Shลnen Jump'."

"Weekly Shลnen Jump" is Shueisha's best-seller publishing manga. It could also be said to be the most famous comic publication magazine in the world. It was a deadly temptation for any mangaka.

"According to the regulations, the newcomers can only sign exclusive contracts. As for other conditions, we can talk them over."

Muto Kentaro had been observing Meng Fan's expression, examining his intentions, and said:

"Meng-san, if your work is able to land on 'Weekly Shลnen Jump,' it will surely let you become the most famous Chinese mangaka in no time."

Promising Meng Fan publication in three months wasn't a lie, but it was impossible to promise "Weekly Shลnen Jump."

Indeed, there were many manga artists who lined up to be serialized in Shueisha, and most of them weren't able to get on "Weekly Shลnen Jump," but were rather published by other manga magazines such as "Jump Square,""Weekly Young Jump,""Ultra Jump," and others. Nonetheless, promising the manga could be serialized in three months, even though the mangaka was Chinese, showed that Muto Kentaro really valued this comic.

Otherwise, he would give up on signing a contract and let Meng Fan go.

A lot of artists would die to get serialized by Shueisha. What difference does one Chinese person make?

"Muto-san, give me time to think it over", Meng Fan said.

"Of course. You have two days. This is my business card. Call me anytime."

Muto Kentaro nodded with a smile, gave Meng Fan a business card, and called the staff to see Meng Fan off. He was very confident that Meng Fan would come back and not in two days. He will likely give him a call in two or three hours!

Meng Fan walked out of Shueisha and sighed. Perfect day, just as expected!

But regardless of whether Shueisha was too harsh, or he was too arrogant, he still followed his own intent. He took out his mobile phone and called Goro Takahashi. If Kodansha also didn't want to negotiate, then forget it.

After becoming a famous comic artist on his own, he would come back to arm-wrestle with Japanese manga industry.

And how to arm-wrestle?

By conducting sales in the same region, of course!

Meng Fan liked Japanese mangas, and he hoped that one day, Chinese comics may land in Japan and sweep it!

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Chapter 306: Exclusive Contracts Only

Shueisha was in the Chiyoda district, and Kodansha was in the Bunkyo district. The two districts were connected, with Bunkyo in the north and Chiyoda in the south. The distance between the two was close as well.

When Meng Fan left, Hiroji Wada was already awaiting him outside. An hour had already passed as Hiroji Wada arrived at his destination before telling his chauffeur to backtrack to here.

It was a hassle to eat together, so Hiroji Wada was pretty content when Meng Fan rejected his offer. However, the chauffeur wanted Meng Fan to stay. They dropped Meng Fan off at the entrance of Kodansha. When he heard Meng Fan say he didn't need to be picked up afterwards, he was overjoyed but also very curious.

After all, he was a chauffeur from Toei Animation, a person in the anime industry. He was very informed on what was happening in the anime industry compared to most practitioners.

These Chinese people are very interesting. This guy had just been recommended by the godlike Oda into Shueisha, so he must have been doing some legitimate business inside during the last hour. But once he came out, why did he have to go to Kodansha? What was going on? Gee whiz. What is this guy trying to achieve here? How greedy.

The chauffeur kept this in mind. When Meng Fan departed the car, he did not leave immediately. He looked towards Kodansha to see a small old man run out.

"Goro Takahashi!"

The chauffeur immediately recognized this well-known, tiny old man, who had been in the industry for several years now.

Speaking of Goro Takahashi, he was known by another nickname โ€” the king of leaks. He picked up several manga artists from Shueisha and Shogakukan where their serializations were almost destroyed. Recently, three or four of the artists he had 'taken in' had become famous. There were over a dozen who were rising in popularity, too.

Goro Takahashi's status at Kodansha was by no means low. He was equivalent to a mascot of the firm. To other publishing houses, Goro Takahashi was a role model, a goal to work toward. Whenever they hear an anonymous manga artist ruined by serialization has become a target to Goro Takahsahi, they too will immediately pay more attention in hopes of poaching artists in similar situations. It was a topic of discussion.

Hence, Goro Takahashi was a very highly regarded figure in the manga industry, especially to those artists who wanted serialization. They all dreamed of being discovered by Goro Takahashi! It was so coveted that for some time, manga artists even paid money to 'bribe' Goro Takahashi.

"Did Goro-san recognize this Chinese person, too? But he doesn't look like the type? Why does it feel like Goro is demonstrating respect towards this Chinese person!"

The driver was curious. He thought about it for a moment and decided to call Hiroji Wada and let him know of this situation. Hiroji Wada was in shock but very interested. He didn't ask his chauffeur to keep spying and treated it as a source of entertainment. He wasn't going to tell Shueisha either. He was just curious what this Chinese person was planning to do.

"Go ahead, Meng-san!"

Goro Takahashi happily led Meng Fan through Kodansha. After a while, he noticed that Meng Fan wanted to speak, so he immediately took Meng Fan into his office and handed him a cup of coffee.

"Thank you."

Meng Fan sipped the coffee and stood up immediately when the small old man bowed down to him. He ushered Goro to sit down, then took out his manuscripts and story outlines from his bag before handing them to Goro. "Goro-san, I'm here on behalf of this manga. Would you mind reviewing it for me?"

"Sure."

Goro Takahashi received the papers and thoroughly looked through them. Similar to Muto Kentaro, Goro was shocked. But the difference was that Muto Kentaro had been subtle, while Goro was completely open about his expression, mouth agape. He exclaimed: "Sugoi! Meng-san, did you draw all of these? Your drawing skills are incredible! This is S-level drawing! Your style is also superb!"

He looked at another page, his expression changing to a more serious tone.

"The storyboard!"

"What an incredible layout!"

To a manga artist, drawing skills are important, but there was never going to be a shortage of talented artists in the world who lacked an audience. In addition to storyline, a good manga also had one more deciding factor. That was the storyboard layout!

No matter how great the story was, or how talented the artist, if the storyboard wasn't strong, a manga's quality will decline significantly.

What was storyboard ability?

It's when a story was told well, so the audience would want to keep reading!

Storyboarding skills were very important. Otherwise, excellent drawing skills would only make you an illustrator, and a great story was just a pile of rubbish!

Goro Takahashi could tell that the drawings in front of him contained superb storyboarding. It was simple, powerful, smooth, but was full of creativity. Between each drawing, his mind was able to animate each scene through the way the panels had been laid out. The effective storyboarding combined the context with the story and was so clever and magical!

What surprised Goro Takahashi the most was there was no trace of influence from any well known manga artists in the skills, style, and storyboard of the drawings presented to him.

He pondered at the drawings for a long time but not as long as Muto Kentaro. It took him about forty or so minutes to withdraw his eyes from the manga and the storyboard and to refocus his attention on Meng Fan. His gaze was burning. "Meng-san, where do you plan to serialize your manga?"

Before Meng Fan could respond, he continued: "If Meng-san trusts me and allows me to be the editor in charge, I promise, I can make this publish on 'Weekly Shลnen Magazine'!"

"Weekly Shลnen Magazine" was the largest manga company under Kodansha enterprises. It was one of the three largest shลnen magazine establishments, next to "Weekly Shลnen Jump" and "Weekly Shลnen Sunday."

There was another reason besides the quality and potential of the manga that allowed Goro Takahashi to give Meng Fan this offer so hastily. That was gratitude.

"Weekly Shลnen M's" publication rate wasn't as great as "Weekly Shลnen J," nor was its serialization ranking. But serialization was still scarce, and there were several manga artists awaiting the serialization of their work!

Muto Kantaro also believed that the manga "Legend of the Mountains and Seas" could make Weekly Shลnen, but that was just acknowledgment. He didn't confirm that it would happen for sure, and even if it made the cut, he would have to wait for a serialization position. Even with Oda san's recommendation, Meng Fan could only meet with Muto Kantaro in advance to discuss terms and conditions.

Of course, if Oda had taken Meng Fan personally instead of providing a letter, the result would be very different. But when it came to Goro Takahashi, Meng Fan received a completely different treatment.

Goro was grateful because Meng Fan had saved his life, and he genuinely respected his character and was attracted to his charm. Plus, with the quality of the manga presented, he was naturally willing to do all he can to fight for Meng Fan, even if it meant sacrificing his own profit and displace his resources. He would help Meng Fan to the end!

He did not even consider the fact that Meng Fan was a Chinese person or what not.

Meng Fan heard this and smiled at Goro thankfully. He then got to the point and spoke out his request. "Goro-san, please hear me out before you make your decision."

"It's no secret that I came to Japan because of my manga. I was originally aiming for Shueisha, especially after I received the recommendation from Oda-san. But Shueisha did not accept my requests. I have the same conditions towards Kodansha as well. I want to sign a contract, and give your company in Japan all the copyrights to my manga, including manga serialization, network serialization, and solo publications, as well as miscellaneous merchandise."

"But for the animation copyrightsโ€ฆ I am happy to hand it to your company as well, even though it might be a long time in the future. But I must clarify in advance, I request that a Chinese production studio participate in the production of the animationโ€ฆ"

"Collaboration agreement?"

Goro heard this and creased his brow, smiling bitterly. "Meng-san, this is very difficult for me! If it was an exclusive contract, I can give you the best treatment for any other request! But if it's not exclusive, I could give up my life and still won't be able to get you onto 'Weekly Shลnen Magazine!"

Meng Fan knew Goro Takahashi was telling the truth and sighed. He was too idealistic! He then asked: "Would it be possible if it's not Weekly Shลnen, but another magazine instead?"

"Another magazine? That would be a pityโ€ฆ Meng-sanโ€ฆ Ah, nevermind. I know if you are willing to accept an exclusive contract, you would have signed with Shueisha already." Goro Takahashi continued. "As for other manga publishers, they have several collaborative projects, so it won't be a problem. Meng-san, what other requests do you have? If so, let me know. I'll take your requests up above to discuss. If they allow it, I'll contact you to discuss the details. How does that sound?"๐’ฉ๐‘‚๐‘ฃ๐–พ๐”ฉ๐‘ต๐“”xt.๐—ฐ๐‘œ๐ฆ

Meng Fan nodded and told him the rest of his requests. Goro Takahashi listened as he took note. Every once in a while, he would look up to confirm some points.

Once Meng Fan finished, Goro Takahashi looked at the requests he'd written down and sighed in his mind. If this was any other person, he would have flipped the table long ago.

Even if his manga was excellent, Japan was a society that highly valued societal status that followed many formalities.

"Meng-san, please wait a moment."

Goro Takahashi left the room, daring to take these requests with him. Aside from coming out alive with this outstanding manga, he had another request.

Kodansha was the first firm out of the big three to enter the Huaxia market and collaborate with Chinese companies. Especially recently with the Huaxia manga market expanding so rapidly. Their collaborations have become more common, and aside from creating a mutual platform, they also established the first branch of their company within Huaxia.

This was Kodansha's first branch in a foreign country and also the first wholly-owned Japanese company in Huaxia.

Kodansha publishing corporation had been frequently exchanging negotiations with Huaxia and the Chinese publishing industry regarding copyright and trade in recent years.

If this prospect did not exist, Goro Takahashi would have persuaded Meng Fan to adjust some of his requests. Now, he would wait and see.

Goro Takahashi was very willing to help Meng Fan!

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Chapter 307: Decent Negotiations

At past seven in the evening, Meng Fan left Kodansha with the first draft of a contract in his backpack. The contract naturally consisted of the collaboration contract Meng Fan had requested with Kodansha.

Of course, the collective contract wasn't completely catered to Meng Fan's requests, as he had to back down on some of his requests just like Kodansha did with theirs. These requests had been used by Meng Fan originally with the intention of leaving room to bargain as well, so he was satisfied in the end as long as they passed his bottom line.

Of course, Kodansha had some requirements of their own as well, but it was all within the limits of the contract, so Meng Fan happily accepted them.

This included some very unfair clauses, like Kodansha having the power to terminate the manga and its serialization at any time.

In addition, aside from the animation copyrights going to Kodansha, all copyrights for "The Legend of the Mountains and Seas" within the region of Japan also belonged to Kodansha.

If "The Legend of the Mountains and Seas" were to film a Japanese movie or TV series, Kodansha would be in charge.

Meng Fan wanted the manga to be serialized in Japan. Aside from wholeheartedly wanting to penetrate the Japanese manga market with a Chinese manga โ€” this was like how actors yearned for Hollywood, basketball players for the NBA, ping pong players gunning to get into Huaxia, and soccer players for the European Cup โ€” but he also wanted to create a stepping stone by signing a contract.

For a manga to become popular, it required a serialization platform. Regardless if it was a manga publishing house or an online platform, it had to continue producing volumes. Otherwise, nobody would know of it, and it will not gain popularity.

Most of the mangas in Japan all went through these three publishing houses for serialization, publications, and art book publications. If Meng Fan wanted his manga to penetrate the Japanese industry, he couldn't avoid these three firms.

Even if this contract was not successful, Meng Fan could still await his manga to gain popularity in the mainland before selling it independently in Japan. But he still had to go through one of these publishing houses.

This was different in Huaxia, where he could randomly find any platform and serialize his manga, publish it at a private publishing house, and gain popularity by selling copies by himself.

Of course, even if it was in the mainland, if Meng Fan didn't have the skills as a base, the publishing house would devour Meng Fan like they do with other exclusive manga artists, regardless which platform and publisher he chose.

Because he had the skills to back it up, he was able to negotiate with Kodansha without any reluctance toward their policy.

If he authorized part of the copyright to his manga through the cooperation agreement he signed with Kodansha, making websites and publishing houses unwilling to sign with him, then Meng Fan would deal with the consequences himself.

Otherwise, Meng Fan still had to consider the market back home in Huaxia as he negotiated with Kodansha.

This time, they had reached an agreement and drafted up a contract, but it hadn't been stamped yet. One, Meng Fan needed time to find a professional to look through the draft, and two, he wanted to visit Penguin Animations for some final negotiations.

Regardless if Penguin Animation agreed or not, Goro Takahashi will still fly out to Huaxia afterward to find Meng Fan and sign the contract.

If Penguin Animation Networks agreed to negotiate, and it went well, then they would have requests of their own too, which would require more negotiation and discussion. Ideally, all three parties would come out of this as winners if the situation allowed.

Meng Fan politely rejected Goro Takahashi's dinner invitation with several other colleagues, saying he already had plans. He had plans indeed. His second sister, Meng Cailian, had scheduled a Michelin-grade dinner for him, and Meng Caiwei, his third sister, had been excited to join them and also invited her friend Shiyua.

But Meng Fan didn't reject Goro Takahashi's offer to drop him off. After he said his goodbyes, Meng Fan gave the driver an address and gave Yixin a call.

"Legend of the Mountains and Seas" had to be serialized in the mainland, and he was set on choosing Penguin Animation Network as his serialization platform. First, Penguin Animation Network was the largest manga hosting platform in the country, and second, he was used to working with them and too lazy to switch.

Yesterday, Meng Fan very shamelessly awarded himself with 100 million Penguin points, followed closely by 100 sponsorships by an equally shameless Ironfan. Not only did they manage to list "Legend of the Mountains and Seas," which didn't even have a description yet, into the best-selling list, it also created the highest sales record since Penguin Animation's creation.

The entire industry was boiling, much more so the web platform.๐’ฉ๐‘‚๐‘ฃ๐–พ๐”ฉ๐‘ต๐“”xt.๐—ฐ๐‘œ๐ฆ

"Legend of the Mountains and Seas" could be said to have blown up before it was even aired. Nobody even knew what the content would be, yet its popularity could rival some very popular manga artists' lifetime of work.

The directing board from Penguin Animation Network had constantly been asking Yixin for updates on the situation, which made Yixin want to cry. What the hell do I know, I want to know too!

After seeing his phone ring with a call from Meng Fan, Yixin immediately picked up the receiver and listened to the voice coming from the other end. Immediately, his expression changed. Then, his scream of excitement could be heard throughout the entire office.

"What? You signed with Kodansha?"

"And it's a collaborative contract, too?"

"You're really in Japan!"

"And you somehow managed to give the copyrights for 'Legend of the Mountains and Seas' in Japan to Kodansha?"

"While you still have the other copyrights?"

"You want to sign it with Penguin Animation Network?"

"So, it's a Sino-Japanese collaborative effort to update?"

"Ha, ha! How did the negotiations go? You promise this is true!"

"Holy cow, how did you do it!"

"Sh*t, I'll go right away!"

"Meng boss, please, please keep your phone line clear!"

After hanging up, Yixin hurriedly burst toward the editor-in-chief's office, leaving the rest of the employees on this floor confused and stunned.

What was going on?

If they weren't mistaken, it sounds like "Legend of the Mountains and Seas" managed to obtain a serialization opportunity at Kodansha, and it was a collaborative contract, too! And Meng Fan still had most of the copyright to his name and was planning to sign with Penguin Animation Networks right now!

What was Kodansha? What was a collaborative contract? What was a copyright? The editors knew all too well and knew what this would mean.

However, they couldn't figure out how Meng Fan managed to pull this off!

This kind of operation was a hundred times more shameless than giving yourself 100,000 Penguin coins!

Meng Fan hung up the phone and chuckled. This Yixin senior was not a calm one.

To be fair, though, neither was Meng Fan.

Regardless, Meng Fan was very excited to have the opportunity to debut his manga on a national platform alongside the Japanese market.

He tossed his phone back and forth between his hands before suddenly remembering to message Wu Tong. Wu Tong knew of Meng Fan's purpose in Japan, so he had to let her know the good news.

"So, you ran out by yourself, didn't you?" Wu Tong responded very quickly.

"โ€ฆ"

Meng Fan knocked on his brain. He'd forgotten about this.

Wu Tong quickly followed up. "(Smiley) Although I'm a little upset, still, congratulations. Come back soon. Before you come to me, go hang out with my Seventh Bro."

"Yes, ma'am!"

They chatted a few more before the car pulled into Ginza through the Chuo district and into the Tsukamoto Main building. Meng Fan departed the car and entered the basement floor. As he walked, the small narrow sushi shop appeared in his view at the end of the hallway. This was a famous sushi restaurant called "Sukiyabashi Jiro." It was the restaurant that Meng Fan's sisters had spent so much effort trying to reserve, and the place Meng Fan and Satomi Ishihara would be having their meal.

At the door, Meng Fan paused and truthfully told Wu Tong. "Uhm, I planned this trip to Singapore and Japan a long time ago. My sister wants me to bring something for Satomi Ishihara, so we're going to grab dinner along the way. I'm outside the restaurant right now."

He was honest but not dumb. He had to find an excuseโ€ฆ As for the blame, he could only put it on Meng Caiwei.

"Oh, Satomi Ishihara? Go ahead. I'm not at the point of being jealous of someone thousands of kilometers away."

Meng Fan saw this and immediately responded: "I promise, once I'm done, I'll immediately go to Seventh Bro!"

Without mentioning if he was a fan meeting an idol, Wu Tong had only clarified she wasn't going to be jealous. Meng Fan could tell something was wrong.

Before, she couldn't care less about him since they weren't dating, but it's definitely different now. With Meng Fan's charming aura, God knows who was the idol and who was the fan? Wu Tong wasn't blind after all.

It didn't mean she didn't trust him or that she lacked confidence. It could only be described with the idiom, 'A small step to prevent an erroneous idea at the outset.'

You can give a man his space, but they still had to be molded.

When it came to this, Wu Tong wasn't just going to sit back and be some all encompassing buddha.

After talking, Meng Fan entered the seemingly small sushi restaurant, which was actually very small indeed. The entire restaurant only had ten seats.

But despite its small size, it was actually a three-star Michelin restaurant. The main chef, Jiro Ono, was known as the "God of Sushi."

This shop required reservation at least one month in advance. Each session lasted 15 minutes, and the average consumption was 30,000 yen per customer. And, most average customers did not get to eat sushi crafted by the 'god' himself.

As Meng Fan was brought to his seat, he was looking for Satomi Ishihara to arrive. However, a chef in uniform appeared in front of Meng Fan, taking him by surprise.

"M-san!"

Chapter 308

: Enjoying the Delicacies

"Hello."

Meng Fan looked up and smiled. "What a coincidence."

He had good memory, plus with his improved Observation, despite only having had a glimpse of the man, he recognized him as one of the flight's passengers. He just didn't know they'd meet again this way.

This was because Meng Fan got too many business cards when leaving the plane that day. This man in his fifties was also rather ordinary looking, so Meng Fan didn't look at his card closely, or he would have remembered the man's name.

Yoshikazu Ono grimaced. He thought to himself, "Did you really not see my business card? If you didn't, you should have at least heard, 'Please come visit Sukiyabashi Jiro.' Were you confused, or maybe you didn't understand what I said?"

The man considered. Since M-san was already in his seat, he should have had a reservation. If he did, why didn't he remember anything?๐’ฉ๐‘‚๐‘ฃ๐–พ๐”ฉ๐‘ต๐“”xt.๐—ฐ๐‘œ๐ฆ

While Yoshikazu Ono complained to himself, he was still very happy and excited that Meng Fan was here.

"Are you here by yourself? Orโ€ฆ"

Yoshikazu Ono wanted to call Meng Fan M-san, but he resisted. After all, they weren't alone, there were four other customers other than the employees here.

As they talked, a woman walked in. She took off her sunglasses. With her spectacular smile, everyone in the store, employee or customer, couldn't help looking over.

"Yoshikazu-san, we meet again."

It was obvious that Satomi Ishihara had been to the restaurant before and knew Yoshikazu Ono. After she walked in, she politely greeted the serious-looking chef and looked at Meng Fan with a bright smile. "You must be Meng Fan-san. Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you."

Meng Fan lightly shook her hand. The two of them sat down.

To be honest, he hadn't seen her shows, not even the live-action "Attack on Titan." He had seen stills from the shows, however, as well as her photobook.

She was indeed a goddess, with a bright but not scorching glow.

Meng Fan's date was Satomi? This wasn't surprising to Yoshikazu Ono. Everyone here, including the customers, saw Meng Fan as a mythical figure, so the meeting wasn't shocking.

Meanwhile, Satomi was surprised Meng Fan knew Yoshikazu Ono, the son of Jiro Ono, a Japanese national treasure known as the "God of Sushi." The man was also the inheritor of the craft and the future chef of the restaurant.

What followed shocked Satomi even more. As Yoshikazu Ono returned to the counter and began to work, Jiro Ono, the "God of Sushi" himself, came over and waved his son off. The older man looked at Meng Fan, "Is there anything you don't eat?"

At sushi restaurants such as this, there were three levels of dining: one, the chef took care of everything and one ate whatever was prepared; two, one ordered individual dishes; and three, prix fixe, with combos at different prices.

If the "God of Sushi" cooked, then one ate whatever he wanted to give you, you just had to say if there's any food restrictions.

Meng Fan shook his head with a smile.

Satomi grew serious. She looked rather nervous and also a little expectant.

The "God of Sushi" didn't even ask her.

The other four customers were so shocked their eyes grew huge. They had obviously done a lot of work before coming here. They knew how incredible it was having the "God of Sushi" prepare your food.

Unlike Meng Fan, who was clueless.

When everyone saw Jiro Ono take off his gloves, their eyes practically glowed. Meng Fan figured the older man had to be over 90 years old, yet his hands were in great condition.

The others knew sushi was three-parts taste and seven-parts gesture, so they stared at the sushi master's fluid hand motions. Meng Fan, meanwhile, was worried about the quantity of the food, and whether he would get enough to eat in this fifteen minutes.

As he had the first course of halibut sushi, he could taste the power of the God of Sushi. The sushi looked typical, but the taste was amazing, with a sweetness slowing emanating in his mouth. He could feel his taste buds being awakened.

However, he also became hungrier.

The second course was the squid. It wasn't completely raw. The fish was blanched in hot water. Meng Fan could hear the cooking sound. After the squid was placed on top of the sushi rice flavored by the chef, it looked luminous.

Jiro Ono explained that the squid had fifty minutes of massage, giving it a great and unique mouth-feel.

The taste of sushi courses changed from bland to pungent. From white fish like halibut, squid, followed by silver-edged needlefish and mackerel, to red-colored fish like tuna, which was a minor climax of the meal. Then there were fish eggs, sea urchin, red clams and the like to cleanse the palette. Finally, the tuna belly was served as an apex of the taste journey.

After 18 courses, there was an add-on course. Satomi ordered abalone, while Meng Fan ordered eel and tuna belly, which was already served.

Satomi held her breath when Meng Fan ordered, who also looked relaxed and smiley. She had to marvel to herself how daring Meng Fan was. Surprisingly, the "God of Sushi" agreed to his order.

Satomi could feel her worldview imploding.

After the follow-up course, it was the final course, or the legendary tamako.

After the meal, despite his hunger, Meng Fan was embarrassed to order more. The taste was fantastic; for many courses, Meng Fan didn't want to eat too quickly. He wanted the taste to linger.

He had achieved his goal for manga and enjoyed all these delicacies. Meng Fan was in a good mood.

The meal for Meng Fan and Satomi was definitely longer than fifteen minutes. The amount of sushi was also more than usual. Satomi was sure of it. Usually, it was 14 courses plus the tamako.

After they finished eating, they weren't rushed out; instead, the God of Sushi washed up, put on his gloves, and chatted with them. He focused on Meng Fan.

The conversation was just chit-chat, but this was still surprising to Satomi.

She remembered how a few years ago, she reserved a week ahead of time and was still refused. She finally ate here after they added a time slot after all diners left. The restaurant was very strict about the length of dining time.

The chat didn't last very long โ€” about five minutes โ€” before they were told they could leave. As they left, Yoshikazu Ono personally walked them out, something Satomi hadn't ever seen.

When they wanted to pay, Yoshikazu Ono stopped them. He warmly told Meng Fan to come again soon and that there's no need to make reservations.

What made Satomi speechless was how Meng Fan agreed without a hint of humbleness. He also told her, next time she'd have to pay, as he could skip making reservations but not the bill.

"Meng Fan-san."

After they left the restaurant, they had to walk upstairs from the underground area. Satomi asked curiously, "How do you know the Ono family?"

Meng Fan chuckled, "If I told you we were instant friends, would you believe me?"

Satomi shook her head. "This doesn't seem like it."

Meng Fan shrugged. "Soโ€ฆ"

Satomi smiled and didn't press him. She asked, "Where do you live? My driver is outside, we can give you a lift."

Meng Fan shook his head. "Thank you. It's easy getting a taxi here. I'm really happy to have met you. I hope to see you again next time. My sister sends her regards."

"Same here. Thank you for the sushi. I've been here a few times, but this is the first time I've had the 'God of Sushi' make my food. If I go to China to visit Caiwei, I hope you can take me to eat Chinese food."

"Absolutely. This is my pleasure."

When Meng Fan saw Satomi's assistant or agent looking over, he waved and left.

He was in a hurry to leave since he was still worried about those rumors with Su Qingcen. He didn't want rumors with Satomi. While it was unlikely, and even kind of flattering, it wasn't good for Meng Fan, as Wu Tong's warning still rang in his ears.

"Just like Caiwei, he's a charismatic, interesting, and cool person."

Satomi smiled, put on her shades, and left with her assistant in the car.

Meng Fan quickly got a taxi after he left. He went back to Bunkyo City. However, he wasn't going to Kodansha; he was looking for Wu Ji at the Tokyo Dome.

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Chapter 309: The Scene Heats Up

The Tokyo arena was a stadium with 55,000 seats and the home stadium for Tokyo's professional softball league. It also hosted basketball, football, professional judo, and combat competitions, as well as K-1 races and music concerts.

To the right of the main gate was a batting range. Aside from this, there were also a few other sports grounds like the Asian MMA competition grounds and the Chiyoda district dojo.

It was almost nine when Meng Fan arrived, and he had already called Wu Tong along the way. He also received a call from Penguin Animation Networks on the way as well, but since several things can't be discussed over the phone, they had arranged to meet upon his return. When Meng Fan arrived, Lao Hei was already waiting for him. This was a surprise.

"Meng Fan, you're such a badass!"

Lao Hei saw Meng Fan and immediately tackled him with a hug, loudly clapping Meng Fan on the back the whole while.

The Singapore hijacking incident had blown up, regardless domestically or internationally. If Meng Fan revealed his identity, he could finally finish the [News Figure] task of being broadcasted on national and international tier media outlets.

It was such a big deal and so had been the flight from Singapore to Japan as well. Lao Hei had heard of this event the day before he arrived in Japan.

Initially, Lao Hei had seen that photo of the "nameless hero" and felt like it looked familiar. Only, he couldn't remember where he saw him from. But once he heard Wu Ji say that Meng Fan was also in Japan, his brain spun around and immediately confirmed it!

Without recognizing the character in the photo, Lao Hei was still familiar with all the outlined features of the man in the photo as well as his strength.

"Nice job!"

Lao Hei chuckled, but he didn't say anything further. He wasn't going to pry more information out of Meng Fan. Tugging at his arm, he led Meng Fan inside the stadium.

"I didn't think you'd be here! Where's Seventh Bro?"

"I was called here temporarily. There was a limit on the number of participants, but I got lucky, hehe. So because some guy had an emergency and couldn't make it, I subbed in!" Lao Hei sounded quite pleased with himself. "Seventh Bro is inside and preparing for the first round. Come on, he's about to begin!"

Lao Hei walked, as he described the situation to Meng Fan.

This time, the Asian MMA wrestling camp was hosted alongside several other MMA events in Asia, which brought together hundreds of athletes from dozens of countries across Asia, including Huaxia, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Japan, Mongolia, and South Korea. China had attended with four teams, where Wu Ji was the both the star player and the leader of one of them.

The wrestling camp this time was the largest fighting event in Asia this year and was mostly used for networking and training, in addition to friendly matches and exhibitional matches.

After the training ended that night, there were three more games. The match between Wu Ji and a Japanese wrestling star was the most anticipated and was going to be the finale.

Meng Fan followed Lao Hei inside and saw the octogonal ring. There were hundreds of people surrounding it, all easily distinguishable by the merchandise of the countries they sported. Athletes from Thailand, the Philippines, Mongolia, and Korea were all watching from the sidelines as well. Athletes from China and Japan could feel the tension on behalf of the fighters despite being in the audience.

Wu Ji was warming up. Meng Fan greeted him but did not approach to banter. It seemed like Wu Ji really cared about this match.

"Ji Bro and that Shirai could be considered rivals. They had fought three times in an official setting before. The results have been one win, one loss, and one draw. Although this isn't a formal competition, the tension between the two is still very high."

It was as Lao Hei was explaining this to Meng Fan that Meng Fan realized Wu Ji was one of the top wrestling experts in Asia and understood the grievances between him and the Japanese athlete, Shirai.

It sounded very exhilarating.

Soon, the match began. Based on the general rules of ONE-FC, the match would be divided into three innings, lasting five minutes each, with a one-minute break in between each inning.

ONE-FC was one of the MMA events. It was launched in Singapore eleven years ago and has developed very fiercely. It is now one of the highest ranking comprehensive fighting events in Asia.

ONE combined Pride FC and UFC game rules and allowed for kicks to the face and the use of elbows. In addition to the scoring methods, it also encouraged offense. The rules were relatively more open, and the game was definitely more exciting to watch.

There were a few ways to determine the overall winner of the fight: KO, referee termination, TKO, surrender, a contestant or his team calling stop, and verbal termination and floor tap.

The former few were easy to understand. To put it bluntly, the audience were able to 100% witness the victory. However, the judgement from the panel would take more time and would become more complicated.

The judgements were varied for each match. For ONE, the score was based on their overall performance instead of the score throughout the game. This scoring method would naturally make the scene more fired up, and the players would not be more cautious and refrain from being aggressive because of a lower score in the previous inning.

Although it wasn't an official match, there were still ring girls who held up signs and referees for the matches.

This was Meng Fan's first time watching an MMA match, and god it was exciting! After the first inning, Meng Fan could tell Wu Ji had been preserving his skills for the upcoming rounds. At least, he was able to conceal some of his strategies like fast punch, boxing, kicking, and so on โ€” none of which Wu Ji had ever used on him.

Just now, the sound of punches on meat was painful to even look at!

Of course, after obtaining two combat-related achievement titles, Meng Fan was confident that even if Seventh Bro used the striking stance on him, he could avoid it and take the upper hand. He felt like the match would have been in his hands.

After the one-minute break, the second inning soon began. The second inning was much more intense than the previous one as the first inning was based on the standing technique, while the second inning contained more ground based combat.

Wu Ji braced the Japanese fighter, Shirai, and whipped him with his leg, going in to hug his leg afterward. Shirai fell to the ground, and Wu Ji immediately suppressed him with a mounted technique. Shirai lifted his torso and used the butterfly sweep to put Wu Ji back in a suppression technique, but he didn't succeed. The two fell to the ground together and once again began the struggle.

Wu Ji put him in a lock, Shirai wiggled out of the lock. This exchange occurred back and forth, providing several scenes of anticipation. Both athletes were in top condition, and neither one could lock the opponent into a surrender. The second inning ended with a fierce battle.

After the last inning began, the fight became more intense, and stand up techniques such as boxing, kicking, and elbow kicking became even more exaggerated. The faces of the two people looked to be discolored for a while before they returned to the ground fighting technique. It was difficult to tell who had the upper hand.๐’ฉ๐‘‚๐‘ฃ๐–พ๐”ฉ๐‘ต๐“”xt.๐—ฐ๐‘œ๐ฆ

The ground techniques were not just from wrestling either but incorporated strategies from judo and jiu-jitsu as well as boxing. Meng Fan watched the two as they entangled their feet and slammed into each other's ribs. He took a few breaths. These people are freaking ruthless.

Bang.

When the time was up, a KO did not occur, nor did a surrender. At the end of the third inning, the decision would go to the three judges.

The final result was based on the fact that this was only an exhibition game. There was no obvious winner or loser, so the referees agreed upon a draw.

Wu Ji and Shirai also accepted this and stepped away to catch their breath.

Suddenly, an argument began among the crowd.

Meng Fan curiously looked over to realize it wasn't the Chinese and Japanese athletes arguing with each other but that a Japanese athlete had begun a quarrel with a Thai athlete. They were arguing in English, and Meng Fan could tell their quarrel had to do with the outcome of this match. It seemed like one thought that Wu Ji had a superior standing technique, while the other believed Shirai's grounding technique obviously had the upper hand.

Was it that obvious?

Of course not.

But the two began to get violent and almost started a fight.

After several more minutes of arguing, someone probably said something that triggered several of the other Japanese athletes among the audience. They weren't scolding the Thai athlete but Wu Ji. It seemed like Wu Ji attempted an obvious foul, but the referees did not see it. In their language, Meng Fan could tell several contemptuous and discriminatory words were used against Wu Ji. Since Wu Ji naturally understood Japanese, he immediately raised his middle finger towards them.

At the same time, several Chinese athletes who understood the argument began to crowd in too and began to refute.

The screaming and arguing did not last long, for soon after, they immediately began to fight!

A few referees tried to prevent the violence, but there were twenty people on one side and thirty on the other. Athletes from several other countries had also been dragged into the mess. They didn't dare try to break them up! They had to find someone quick before something serious happened!

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Chapter 310: Oof, It Hurts

The scene was a big mess!

Meng Fan was taken aback.

Although he took part in his share of fights, he never witnessed such a scene.

Even though there were many policemen and disorganized passengers that day at the airport, Meng Fan didn't feel confused back then.

At the airport, Meng Fan was completely prepared, arguably even for the worst case scenario.

Now, the chaos suddenly appeared before his eyes and took him by surprise.

There were more than forty Chinese wrestlers divided into four teams participating in this edition of Asian MMA Competition. Half of them โ€” twenty-some people โ€” occupied half of the Tokyo stadium together with a group of Japanese fighters, which also consisted of at least thirty athletes. It meant around fifty people were engaged in this chaotic warfare.

Adding to that, there were wrestlers from other countries ready to join the action or enjoying watching the scene. Now almost at a hundred and surely more than eighty people were fighting!

Although comprehensive fighting was not so suitable for melee, it was still very combative. Even though grounding and falling techniques had little use, the power of punching and kicking was far beyond ordinary people's imagination.

With curses and screams in various languages flying all around, the huge training area was completely immersed in chaos.

"Die!"

Meng Fan heard a low cry behind him and then felt a kick landing on his back. He stumbled and leaned forward. Fortunately, Meng Fan's body was strong enough, and he regained balance after the stagger.

Looking back, he saw a guy, who โ€” based on his style and attire โ€” must have been a South Korean. Seeing that his kick had no effect, and adding to that the fact that Meng Fan was at least two times heavier than him, he took two steps back.๐’ฉ๐‘‚๐‘ฃ๐–พ๐”ฉ๐‘ต๐“”xt.๐—ฐ๐‘œ๐ฆ

"Tuck your mother!"

Meng Fan shouted and started rushing. But instead of going toward the South Korean, he rushed out.

Because Seventh Bro was being beaten!

Wu Ji came down from the ring, and his location became the center of the conflict. As the target was so strong, it was only natural he was being attacked on all sides.

But he wasn't like himself. After three rounds of a violent battle with Shirai, he was so sweaty as if he just took a bath, and his stamina was almost wholly consumed. Moreover, he already sat down to take a rest. It's too hard to pick up energy after such an intense match.

He stubbornly maintained his standing position but, after a while, was laying on the ground.

Lao Hei and the others barred the way with great difficulty, and there were also several people coming from the Japanese side. Having an advantage in the number of fighters was very important at this moment.

In addition, martial arts sportsmen from several other countries were also joining in the action. It seemed that they wanted to use this opportunity to defeat Wu Ji. Hard to know whether he won with or offended this many people in the peacetime, but the crowd was definitely acting premeditated.

Of course, Meng Fan understood nothing of this. He only knew that he couldn't watch Seventh Bro being beaten, not to mention Wu Tong. In Hangzhou, these two seemed very close.

Being attacked by someone and thus getting involved in this scuffle, it didn't make Meng Fan angry. But when Seventh Bro was being beaten, Meng Fan instantly went furious.

Initially, thinking that he didn't belong in this circle, he hurried to hide. Now, he was storming through the crowd with a tank-like force. Regardless whether it was people from Huaxia, Japan, or other countries, everyone squeezed out of his way and soon he reached Wu Ji's side.

At that moment, a Japanese man was raising his foot to step on Wu Ji's chest. Meng Fan sped up, and he abruptly leaned on, knocking out the lightweight Japanese wrestler with a snap.

Then, Meng Fan clanged to Wu Ji with his hands and feet, protecting him.

Bang. Bang.

Shortly after, another two Japanese athletes' feet fell on Meng Fan.

The kick falling on his bottom wasn't all that bad, but the foot that fell on the back of his neck completely stomped Meng Fan, with a lot of force. When his neck got stepped on, he felt a shock in his chest, and a strong sense of suffocation, which was very uncomfortable.

This wasn't over yet. There was another kick aimed straight in Meng Fan's chin. Meng Fan felt his brain buzzing and, subsequently, there was a burst of salty taste in his mouth. This flavor thoroughly irritated Meng Fan.

Another kick was coming like a whip.

Meng Fan suddenly raised his head; his eyes were red, and his fists clenched.

Bang.

The kicking leg severely thrashed Meng Fan's arm. It was so painful that Meng Fan clenched his teeth and, by doing this, discovered that some of his teeth were loose!

Enduring the pain and the feeling as if his jaw was about to crack open, he grabbed the leg and stood up with a laugh. He extended the other hand and grabbed that guy's neck.

He held his leg in one hand and the neck in the other.

He ruthlessly slammed it upward and then threw it toward the ground.

Boom.

The man fell to the ground with a loud noise.

"Ding!"

A reminder sounded in Meng Fan's mind, but at that moment, Meng Fan went completely insane and didn't check it.

Dang.

Just after throwing that man, he got kicked in the back again. This time, Meng Fan's body was motionless like a tower. He turned and rushed over.

He grabbed the man's shoulders with both hands, lifted him, and slammed against the octagonal ring.

Bah.

After knocking the guy down, Meng Fan, still feeling the salty fishy taste in his mouth, spat in his face.

He turned around and โ€” striding towards Wu Ji โ€” grabbed a person on the side. Suddenly speeding up while holding this guy, he took two steps and โ€” using hands', feet's and waist's strength โ€” flung him over his shoulder. The man slammed into two other Japanese athletes in front of him like a sandbag. After they fell down, Meng Fan rushed again, jumped up, and landed on the three Japanese fighters.

After sitting on them, he took advantage of the rebound force from the three meat pads and rolled out, slamming one person's leg.

Bam bam bam bam.

Wherever Meng Fan strolled, if he saw anyone, he grabbed them and threw them down. Some tried to use the capturing technique to twist joints after falling on the ground and were thrown once more.

"Meng boss, it's me! Xiao Hei Hei!"

Lao Hei noticed a long time ago that Meng Fan joined the fight. But after seeing Meng Fan was crazy and watching people falling to the ground, he quickly started yelling as soon as he saw Meng Fan walking toward him.

However, Meng Fan sped up after hearing it!

Lao Hei almost cried. Meng Boss's eyes were red with murderous intent. If you don't get killed by the Japanese, are you going to be KO-ed by your own people?

Bam.

Hearing the sound, Lao Hei realized that Meng Fan was not attacking him but a Japanese person behind him.

Afterward, Lao Hei watched as Meng Fan slammed a few South Koreans, ferociously throwing them on the ground. Among them there was one whom Meng Fan particularly tormented, as when the guy was already laying on the floor, he stepped on him.

This time the South Korean team consisted of a dozen athletes, all of whom trained in this sporting venue. The remaining six or seven were stupid, and when they saw Meng Fan walking towards them, they hurriedly screamed.

"We didn't participate."

"It has nothing to do with us!"

"We โ€” and the guys from a moment ago โ€” aren't martial artists!"

Obviously, they also saw that the man who had been stepped on by Meng Fang just now had sneak-attacked Meng Fan before.

Meng Fan didn't care. He went up and threw them down as well.

Three of them had run away in advance, and Meng Fan didn't chase but turned and walked in the direction of other dogfights.

Bam bam bam.

These South Koreans who ran away saw from afar that Meng Fan had another target, and they were all glad they had run fast.

They are all wrestlers, don't they have the fighting fight?

Not really!

First of all, he wasn't in their weight class, and secondly, they were onlookers to a lot of Meng Fan's blows. It's very clear that he was also not on their strength level.

As more and more people fell to the ground by Meng Fan's hand, the scuffles and noise in the venue also decreased.

One reason indeed was that a lot of people got defeated by Meng Fan. The other reason was that more and more people saw Meng Fan's brutality. When other countries who got on in the action felt the excitement, basically everyone stopped fighting.

Where was the rushing monster?!

Although there were some masters participating in the event โ€” the most powerful among them was the pair that just battled โ€” they are all registered contestants. Unexpectedly, there was no one who could escape this monster. Not to mention, that said monster seemed to have excellent general wrestling skills and a surprisingly immense strength. No one could resist him.

Quite a few people gave this monster a kick or a few punches, but he didn't even flinch!

"Do something!"

"Lay off!"

"STOP!"

A lot of security guards rushed in as well as some senior executives, the hosts, and MMA event management personnel. They were all extremely angry to see this chaotic scene.

Seeing everyone, Meng Fan stopped fighting. He didn't go to catch more people but walked back to Wu Ji with a sullen face. He gave a cold stare to the few still standing Japanese wrestlers then sat down next to Wu Ji, panting heavily. As Wu Ji mischievously laughed at him among this all, he couldn't resist punching him.

"Laughing jerk! Do you know how many kicks and punches your bro suffered for you? Oof, it hurts!"

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Chapter 311: There is Something to this Task

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Meng Fan sat down heavily, breathing hard. Wu Ji, who had "lay around to win," used the chance to recover; he was able to sit back up. The man's mood didn't seem to be affected by the chaos earlier and was actually upbeat.

Wu Ji patted Meng Fan's shoulders and chuckled. "When Tongtong wanted you to find me, she wanted me to protect you. Well, today, you actually protected me!"

Wu Ji heard about the attempted hijacking in Singapore. At first, he didn't associate it with Meng Fan. When Wu Tong called him, he realized Meng Fan was going from Singapore to Japan. Hearing Wu Tong's worry, he put two and two together and instantly understood.

He slammed the table and said, "You're a real man! You'll be good for Tongtong. I can give her away to you!"

The title, "real man," may be for Meng Fan's action during the hijacking, or maybe because Meng Fan had protected his future brother-in-law.

"Please."

Meng Fan removed Wu Ji's hand. He chuckled. "First of all, Tongtong is not yours to give away. I pursued her on my own. Second, regardless of what you say, Tongtong is my girlfriend!"

"Why don't you get it? Fine. No matter what, today, I have to thank you!"

Wu Ji breathed in deeply and stood up. The smile on his face was now frosty. He walked toward the group of people who came in and went up to one of the organizers of the MMA training camp. This organizer also worked at the ONE-FC event in Singapore. Wu Ji asked in a cold voice, "Mr. Lin, I need an explanation!"

Lin Jundao, who looked angry at the chaotic scene, seemed stunned by Wu Ji, who confronted him first. He thought to himself, "I don't even know what happened, how do I give you an explanation?"

Lin Jundao didn't want to act up with Wu Ji, so he said seriously, "Ah-Ji, why don't you take a break. Let me find out what has happened."

He patted Wu Ji's shoulder and then walked forward one step. He yelled at every fighter, whether they were on the floor, sitting, or standing. "Everyone, go stand with your team leader! Right now!"

Lin Jundao was senior level at ONE-FC and an organizer at this training camp. He was both an official and a representative of the investors, so no one present dared to defy him.

Althoughโ€ฆ There were a few fighters who fainted on the floor. They needed medical attention right away. If not at the hospital, then at the medical room here.

During this whole process, Lin Jundao couldn't help looking at Meng Fan, who sat among the Chinese fighters. He didn't know what happened exactly, but he had seen Meng Fan throw three people to the floor in the short while since he came in.

He knew the Chinese MMA fighters pretty well, but he couldn't think of anyone this strong!

When everyone had sorted themselves and stood with their group, Lin Jundao stopped looking at Meng Fan and announced, "No one needs to say anything. Now, all the team leaders, take your team back to your hotel and stay there. I'll investigate the events with surveillance footage."

"Group fighting? You are something else. Before I finish my investigation, no one better even think of getting away from any discipline. If there's any violations, forget it! Before I find out what happened, if any of you dared to do anything on your own, I can tell you right now that'll be the end of your career!"

The people who didn't understand โ€” after hearing their team leader or teammate's translation โ€” looked grim, too. No one thought Lin Jundao was merely threatening. The man would keep his word.

This warning was not only for ONE-FC, it covered other MMA events in Asia and events across the world, too. It applied even if you wanted to switch disciplines.

As the teams started leaving the arena, Meng Fan stood up and left with Wu Ji and others. They left relatively early. The other teams watched Meng Fan as if they were looking at a monster.

Meng Fan's body type was definitely a heavyweight among fighters or at least a light heavyweight. How could someone this big be this limber?

He caught everyone he tried to snatch. His snatch rate was probably second to none in the entire Asian fighting scene!

His throw-down techniques โ€” to anyone who had seen the entire process โ€” were also flawless. They could be described as perfect.

As for strength, it wasn't unusual for someone at this level to be so strong.

He was at such a high level, was limber, and had great endurance!

What an anomaly!

When did China create such amazing creatures?

There had always been very few heavyweight fighters from China. Those who had advanced had almost always been lower leveled, mostly flyweight to featherweight. Even lightweight to welterweight was rare. The only middleweight fighter in the last few years was Wu Ji. Any higher-level Chinese fighter had been rare.

With so few fighters among the breakouts, it was unlikely for them to be famous.

Because of this, everyone became more upset and confused. How come they've never heard of someone like this?

"I think I know where he's from!"

One of the fighters in the South Korean team, who ran off as Meng Fan charged him, shouted. His eyes lit up as he remembered this was the Chinese guy who beat Park Jae Hye.

โ€ฆ

"Your handsโ€ฆ"

After they got on the bus, Wu Ji noticed Meng Fan's hand. He frowned and asked, "Is all the blood from others?"

Meng Fan looked at Wu Ji sideways and at his own hands. He wanted to cry!

During the group fight and all the throw-downs, Meng Fan had to use his fists somewhat. He was strong, and his bones were tough as well, but his hands were still soft. Unlike most fighters, whose hands were toughened from years of fighting, his weren't. Furthermore, his targets were also thick-skinned. Meng Fan's hands were really busted after all the fighting.

It's like using hands used to drawing on a punching bag without any protection. After the fighting, Meng Fan's hands ended up this way.

Seeing Meng Fan's expression, Wu Ji laughed out loud. He stopped when Meng Fan glared at him.

Meng Fan, "What did I do?"

Wu Ji hurriedly asked a teammate to treat and bandage Meng Fan's hand. He also asked, "Where are you staying? In our hotel?"

Meng Fan firmly shook his head. "No way. You guys will be busy tonight, I better not make more work for you. Don't worry, I'm at the Aman Kyoto. It'll be safer than your hotel."

"Aman? You really are rich."

Wu Ji didn't comment further.

Meng Fan thought and said, "I'm going back tomorrow. Would the fight bring any trouble?"

Smiling, Wu Ji shook his head. "This time, the matter is quite serious, so there will be a lot of punishment for discipline. But it has nothing to do with you. You aren't in this circle, so any discipline doesn't matter. Plus, you were hit first. The host wouldn't make it a legal matter though. Even if it was, they'd make it go away."

Meng Fan couldn't help asking after hearing about the discipline. "How serious is the discipline?"

Wu Ji shrugged. "Probably being banned or suspended from games or fined, but it may be severe."

Meng Fan asked like the outsider he was, "Maybe it's good being banned or suspended. The fighting is too brutal."

Now, it was Wu Ji who looked at Meng Fan sideways, "Hah, how dare you say that? Was anyone more brutal than you?"

Meng Fan disagreed. "Bastard, how could you say that? I didn't even fight back when I was kicked. I was protecting you the whole time! I was worried you'd be hurt. And you say I'm brutal?"

Wu Ji laughed. "For Tongtong, that's who! You didn't want her to be mad if something happened to me."

Meng Fan stuck out his middle finger at him. "You're lucky your sister is so awesome."

"Right, right, I should feel lucky my brother-in-law is awesome, right? I better thank him!" Wu Ji pretended to look around. "Where is he?"

Meng Fan smiled brilliantly. "Seventh Bro, I'm right here!"

The teammates on the bus weren't aware of the two men's connection before. After hearing their conversation, they understood. This set of brothers-in-law was quite a pair: they were both brutal and shameless.

The bus took Meng Fan to the Aman Kyoto hotel in Chiyoda City before going to the team's hotel. After Meng Fan got off the bus, the teammates โ€” who were excited about winning the group fight and advancing as a team โ€” became nervous. Just like Wu Ji said, the consequences for the fight would be serious and carry severe discipline.

It didn't matter who started the fight. Even if the host confirmed the Japanese team started the fight, anyone involved in the fight would be disciplined.

When Meng Fan returned to the hotel, the first thing he did was strip and look in the mirror. After seeing the bruises from being kicked or hit and realizing nothing was too serious, Meng Fan relaxed. Then, he crawled into the jacuzzi and soaked with his hands in the air.

His hands were so broken up, he couldn't even take a shower. He could only soak for a while.

Right!

He just remembered how he triggered a task in the melee. He checked, and it was a task. But the title of the task wasโ€ฆ either amazing or f*cked up. He had to describe it as "there's something to it."

"Ding! You have triggered the task [Thousand-People Slayer]."๐’ฉ๐‘‚๐‘ฃ๐–พ๐”ฉ๐‘ต๐“”xt.๐—ฐ๐‘œ๐ฆ

This task requires you to defeat 1,000 fighters."

"Upon completion, you will receive the title [Thousand-People Slayer] (Killing Power 3, Breeding Power 1)."

1

The task had three Phases: ten people would get him 100, a hundred would get him 1,000, and a thousand would get him 10,000. Plus, an extra award of Killing Power 1.

He had already finished Task Phase 1 and received its award. He'd defeated forty people so far.

"I've already defeated fighters like Lao Hei before, why didn't I trigger this task then?"

"Why would defeating fighters mean a reward of Breeding Power?"

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Chapter 312: Being Pitiful

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation๐‘›๐”ฌ๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐“ต๐‘›๐“”xt.๐” ๐‘‚๐‘€

Meng Fan tried to remember when the task was triggered. It was definitely when he started doing throwdowns. It's just that he wasn't sure how many people he'd thrown down by then.

The first one? Or the tenth?

If it was the tenth, did the number of people include Lao Hei and other people he'd defeated?

If it was the first person, then why didn't Lao Hei and others trigger the task?

Even if the system was impulsive, Meng Fan didn't think it'd be this willful for trigger conditions.

Unlessโ€ฆ The title of [Thousand-People Slayer] could only be triggered in Japan?

Meng Fan actually thought this was the most likely explanation. After all, if the system had seen movies like "Dangal," it'd also seen movies like "The Beheaded 1000."

Maybe this was the only explanation for rewards like "Breeding Power," otherwise, why would defeating fighters have anything to do with "Breeding Power?"

He was really impressed by the system!

As for Killing Power, Meng Fan thought of the hijackers at the airport, their energy was probably Killing Power.

Having Killing Powerโ€ฆ is this really a good thing?

Then, he thought of the way other fighters watched him as they left the Tokyo Dome. Maybe it was because of how fiercely he fought โ€” he did topple over forty people โ€” or maybe it was his newly-added Killing Power.

Killing Power sounded cool, but it wasn't a characteristic Meng Fan wanted.

If the Killing Power was controllable or contained, Meng Fan wouldn't mind it. But if not, Meng Fan didn't want to complete this task, nor did he want to do what this task required.

In order to defeat all those fighters, would he need another group fight? Or do one-on-one fights?

Meng Fan didn't want to do that.

However, the "Breeding Power" attribute for this task did sound appealing!

This attribute had appeared before, inside the [Open for All] task. That task asked for some shameless requirements and had a "Bad Luck" attribute that Meng Fan didn't dare to complete even now, especially after he experienced the magical effect of Good Luck 1.

Meng Fan had no points to exchange for the new "Killing Power" attribute because of its uniqueness. Frankly, he couldn't afford to exchange it even if he wanted to. He only had around 700 points, so, other than cheap items like sports drinks or energy gels, he couldn't get anything, much less an attribute which needed at least 1,000 points.

Chirp.

The phone next to him made a noise. It was Wu Tong, and it was a video call.

"This isn't good, I'm in the tub!"

Meng Fan mumbled as he picked up the phone and connected. He cracked a smile.

Wu Tong only saw Meng Fan's head. She asked, "Where are you?"

Meng Fan didn't know how to answer or how to keep talking. He moved the screen down, and his voice came through, "I'm taking a bath."

"โ€ฆ"

Wu Tong instantly half-closed her eyes and complained, "Move the phone up!"

Meng Fan stared at the screen. Were her eyes trying to focus? He chuckled but didn't want to overdo it. He moved the screen toward his face.

"Are you okay?"

Wu Tong has obviously heard of what happened from Wu Ji. She sounded worried. "Wu Ji said you were hit. Your hands got hurt, and your mouth is bleeding!"

Meng Fan nodded. He then put his wounded and bandaged hand into the shot while trying to sound nonchalant. "It's okay. My mouth was bleeding after I got kicked in the chin. It's probably my gum bleeding. A couple of my teeth feel loose too. It's okay, though. My hands are broken, and you can see the open wounds, but I can still draw."

"Hey, it's not because I wasn't listening to you. You said I always get into fights. But I didn't want to fight today. I didn't even get mad when I got kicked by a Korean. But when I saw someone attacking Seventh Bro, who was exhausted, I had to help. I didn't think of anything else. Even if you yell at me for fighting, don't worry about Seventh Bro getting hurt."

"Pfft!"

Wu Tong had to scoff at Meng Fan. Seeing Meng Fan's bandaged hand, and after hearing about the event from Wu Ji, she was worried and touched. Her tone became gentler. "Does it still hurt?"

"My hands don't hurt that much, just a little shaky." Meng Fan replied. "My body hurts, though; I was hit a lot. I saw the wounds in the mirror. They were all red marks; not sure when they'll go away."

Wu Tong sounded concerned. "What? Is it serious? Why don't you go see a doctor? Where are the wounds? Let me see them."

"A bunch of places."

As he spoke, Meng Fan stood up.

His body came out of the water.

"Argh!"

Wu Tong realized the problem and almost yelled. She closed her eyes completely and said, "Don't stand up! Sit down! Sit down!"

Meng Fan laughed. "Don't be silly. Take a look."

Wu Tong gingerly opened her eyes and only saw Meng Fan's face on the screen. She chuckled. Fine. He was standing up, but he didn't move the phone down, so she couldn't see anything.

Meng Fan laughed. "Why? Are you afraid of seeing something?"

Wu Tong scoffed again and said. "Don't be crazy. Let me see your wounds."

She was still worried about Meng Fan.

Meng Fan stopped teasing her. He was worried about her worrying. He sat back down in the water. "I was being cute. It's just a few footlong-sized red marks. I'll be okay after I soak a little. Seventh Bro's doctor checked me out. If it was serious, I'd be already at the hospital. I don't want to die. I want to see you again!"

"Hrmpf."

Wu Tong made a lot of noises before staring at Meng Fan. "Don't be cute again!"

Seeing Meng Fan close his mouth, she said apologetically in a soft tone. "It's all my fault this time. If I didn't ask you to find Seventh Broโ€ฆ"

"It's a good thing you did. If something happened to Seventh Bro, you'd be so devastated. And I would be, too!"

"โ€ฆOh! When are you coming back?"

"I'm making reservations now and leaving tomorrow. I have to get on the first flight out, 'cause if the wounds disappeared, who can I be pitiful with? I'm trying to get someone to give me a massage!"

"Pfft!"

After Wu Tong huffed, she said rather daringly. "Don't rush; as long as you come back safely. If you were still swollen, I'd help youโ€ฆ If not, I'd make you swollen."

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Chapter 313: Surprising Popularity

Lin Juntao and the others tuned into the CCTV footage as soon as the athletes left to understand the reason behind the riot. The Tokyo Dome had a comprehensive security system, and except for blind spots for people, there was nothing that could be hidden from the cameras.

After watching the monitors, everyone โ€” including the organizers of the event โ€” were stunned.

For whatever reason, they didn't even pay attention to anything else aside from Meng Fan's monster-like performance.

"Who is he?!"

When Lin Juntao and the others had come in, they indeed saw Meng Fan throwing two guys within a short period of time. At first, Lin Juntao didn't pay much attention to Meng Fan; but really, how could he be so strong?

"He is from Huaxia, no doubt, but seems like he doesn't belong to any of the four Chinese teams."

"It's impossible for a contestant of this caliber to stay unrecognizable!"

"Tell me, how strong is he?"

"Very strong! Regardless that the level of participants is lower than his, he still can defeat more than forty people in such a short time, which is enough to prove his strength."๐‘›๐”ฌ๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐“ต๐‘›๐“”xt.๐” ๐‘‚๐‘€

"Strength is strength, but there is a difference between melees and arena fights. But if he can decently perform in the ring, he would easily become famous!"

"โ€ฆOk, let's not talk about this man for now. Tell me how to deal with today's mess!"

Lin Juntao stopped chit-chatting and turned to them to discuss the formalities.

Martial arts laws prohibited such self-righteous battles.

Whether in ancient or modern times, the matter of private fights of martial artists have always been treated with great seriousness. Even if it happened in the martial arts hall this time and could be dubbed as training, the situation was still grave. None of these supervisors dared to deal with it in a perfunctory manner.

Those who started the fight must be severely punished.

Those who took advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble also need to be punished.

Those who participated in the fighting certainly cannot escape punishment.

Even those who were only watching and cheering should be disciplined.

Basically, few people were able to escape.

Moreover, it must be done fast. This kind of thing was impossible to hide. In no way would the organizers would want a third party to be dragged into this; that would be really troublesome.

They discussed and discussed, until finally they focused on Meng Fun.

What about this guy?

As someone who didn't belong to the martial artists society, he couldn't be punished by them.

And it would be even worse to leave it to the third party; the police, for example. Things would immediately go down badly.

Lin Juntao got a headache, rubbed his temples, and said: "The person in charge of the Japanese Martial Arts Museum should be here soon. You all go on, develop the specific punishment plan. I will go to the Japanese team to find Wu Ji."

โ€ฆ

And indeed, just as expected by Lin Juntao and the others, the chaos in the Tokyo Dome could not be concealed. Soon, there was a video of this riot online โ€” and not only one. There were pictures captured by surveillance, and some taken by onlookers' mobile phones, all of quite good quality.

However it leaked, it didn't matter.

The conflicts in the ring were nothing new in the fighting world, not to mention this kind of conflicts happening during training sessions. Even though there were many ring fights between teams during the competition, the non-professional conflicts between athletes also occur. One can easily find a lot of exciting images and videos posted online.

Recently, there was one concerning a coach sitting in the audience in a suit, who got provoked, ascended to the arena, and KO-ed the opponent and his instructor โ€” each of them with just one kick. It was really thrilling.

And a lot of these incidents were hyped, even dubbed as "what a story needs". At this point, it was undoubtedly the WWE who promoted the rotten and dodgy from-the-streets kind of fun. However, American wrestling did originate as a form of entertainment with its "scripted" fights and shows. And WWE actually means World Wrestling Entertainment.

โ€”โ€”WWE, because of its performing nature, has really produced a lot of actors and actresses. The most famous one was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who has topped the global actor income rankings. In addition, WWE has also often invited celebrities to participate in shows, such as Schwarzenegger, Tyson, O'Neill, and many more, as well as many former presidents who have also spoken on the spot. What's even funnier, the current president had participated in the classic performance once when he had shaved the head of the WWE president. And he was also elected to the WWE Hall of Fame!

WWE's shows were brilliant but not real, and thus not as exciting as the online videos exposed today โ€” in which one can see authentic provocation and beating.

About a hundred MMA fighters were fighting each other. This was a very attractive headline. And the content was even more exciting. Whether be it a surveillance video or a mobile phone video, the main character was always Meng Fan.

At the very beginning, he was a victim of a sneak attack, then he ran desperately to protect a "team member," and he went into a rampage, madly beating everyone and everywhere.

One catch, one hit, one throw, one kill. Wherever he went, there was no foe who could have stood a chance. The scene was really mesmerizing!

If all the falls and hits weren't so authentic, it could really be mistaken for a movie scene.

These videos first appeared on YouTube, and later were forwarded to Twitter by some people, and then spread more and more widely.

Slowly, articles about the MMA athletes' scuffle appeared also on some news websites.

Moreover, it quickly spread back to China. The reason for that was very simple, as the protagonists of these videos are Huaxia people. With the advent of the news, the causes and effects of the matter had also come to light. Meng Fan stood up to protect his extremely exhausted, brilliant "teammate."

In addition, the stories about punching Japanese and kicking Koreans have always been very well-received in China. As soon as it appeared in the country, it was immediately reposted and Meng Fan got recognized.

"Meng Fatty? Is it really my homie Meng Fatty?"

"Absolutely! Didn't he beat a South Korean in a martial arts hall last time? It seems that Iron God is going to go the fighter's way!"

"Is Boss Meng not a cartoonist? Yesterday, it was reported that he had won a million Huaxia coins for his comics. How did he get to Japan?"

"The Iron Giant is so hardcore!"

"Hahaha, Iron God did it again!"

"Shoot, can't you calm down for a while? There is a hot topic practically every day. How can you โ€” a non-entertainer โ€” make this idol-like site traffic?!"

"Those who say Iron God has an advantage in body shape and that's why he beat that Korean guy, better watch closely! Your old Iron God did beat Koreans again, and this time several at once, hahaha!"

"At least forty fell, and they are all MMA athletes! How strong must he be!"

"All taken down. Iron God is undoubtedly the strongest man on Earth!"

"Meng Fat said he had no choice: 'I also wanted to keep a low-profile, but my strength didn't allow that!'"

"โ€ฆ"

Chinese netizens have always been very good at digging and connecting dots, but it was interesting that no one has linked Meng Fan to the Singapore hijacking incident. It's hard to know whether it was caused by seemingly different circumstances of these two situations, or maybe some people see that there were clues only when everything was clear.

More interestingly, the identity of the "teammate" who was fiercely protected by Meng Fan was quickly discovered on the next day when Meng Fan was flying back to Huaxia. After all, as the top Chinese MMA athlete, he was very well-known. It was Wu Ji, the brother of Wu Tong, the "painting fairy" that became popular not long ago. Then a hashtag was created.

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Chapter 314: Punishment and Loss

There were many flights between Kyoto and Hangzhou, but most required transfers. If the transfer was in Beijing or Hong Kong, the trip would take eight or nine hours. But if the transfer was at Chengdu or Shenzhen, the trip would take more than ten hours. There were direct flights, however, only one or two were available each day and were quite expensive. The direct flights were at least three times as expensive as flights with a transfer.

Direct flights were obviously much faster, taking less than four hours.

Meng Fan chose a direct flight. Luckily, the earliest daytime flight today was a direct flight, leaving at 9 a.m. and arriving at Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou at around 11:50 a.m. Even more coincidentally, after Meng Fan got his boarding pass, his airfare was refunded, and he was upgraded to first class.

The flight crew on this flight definitely didn't know about Meng Fan's connection to the attempted hijacking in Singapore, nor did they know Meng Fan was on this flight for free. Of course, there were plenty of VIP services in first class. Even when some people recognized Meng Fan as someone in the "group fight," and even though he was seen throwing down many Japanese fighters in the recording, no one showed their feelings.

Perhaps it was due to the Charisma attribute, the flight attendants were more caring and attentive toward Meng Fan than to other passengers.

Earlier, Meng Fan had received many calls and messages about the fight, including Goro Takahashi, the senior editor at Kodansha.

After realizing Goro Takahashi was calling about this, Meng Fan was prepared to have his comics refused. After all, most of the conflict was with Japanese fighters, and he threw down so many of them. If Kodansha turned him down because of this, Meng Fan had no choice.

Things were better than Meng Fan had imagined. Goro Takahashi said Kodansha management had noticed the incident and would pay attention to the follow-up. They didn't mention any changes to the contract, since the fighting world was not close to the comics world.

The aftermath for the fight had also been announced. There was a press conference, with some fighters banned and some fined, and there was a statement for the public. The MMA camp did a good job.

As for Meng Fan, the results were the same. They couldn't discipline him even if they wanted to. During the press conference, they described him as an employee of the Chinese team. They even used the excuse that Meng Fan had to fight to protect his teammates.

If there's nothing else happening, Meng Fan's contract-signing should go forward as scheduled.

Other than people at Kodansha, no one else in Japan knew Meng Fan had reached a tentative agreement to serialize comics in Japan.

The flight landed at around 12 noon at Xiaoshan Airport. Meng Fan got off the flight and left the terminal.

Wu Tong messaged him on WeChat. "Are you off the plane? I'm not picking you up."

Of course, Meng Fan wanted to see Wu Tong as soon as possible. He was a little disappointed as he replied, "OK. It's a hassle going to the airport and back. I was getting a taxi anyway. As long as you can wait to have lunch with me."

Wu Tong replied. "I'm cooking lunch right now. I'll wait for you."

Then, she sent a photo.

Meng Fan's eyes widened. This was his kitchen!

"You're in my apartment?"

"Yes."

"How did you get in?"

"I have special unlocking skills."

Meng Fan instantly thought of a possibility. "Did my mom come?"

Her reply was simple. "Yes."

Meng Fan almost jumped up. Mom, you finally did something right!

Meng Fan had thought of giving Wu Tong a key or to install a fingerprint lock. But he didn't know how to bring it up.

Even if he mentioned it, he could be pummeled.

Who knew his mom would help him!

So, Wu Tong didn't pick him up because she was cooking lunch for him in his place!

The amazing "turnaround" made Meng Fan literally jump up.

What kind of scene is this?

A wife waiting for her husband to come home!

Meng Fan smiled with a silly grin.

He floated all the way back. He didn't know how he got in a taxi, how he got to his neighborhood, nor how many people were stunned to recognize him on the way.

"Isn't he the Iron Hero?"

"He's back from Japan?"

"Wow, he fought and he ran!"

"Hah, why is Meng Fatty smiling like that? Is he really happy? Why am I smiling, too? His smile is so infectious!"

"Why is he by himself? Where's his brother-in-law?"

"They said online that those fighters were all disciplined. Meng Fan is the only one who wasn't since he's not in that industry. It's hilarious."

"โ€ฆ"

The taxi driver was confused, too. The muscular guy in the back seemed charismatic but also a little odd with his smile. Why was he constantly smiling? He pondered, "I better stop looking at the rearview mirror, or I'd start smiling, too."

Ding dong.

The mesmerized Meng Fan pressed his own doorbell. Soon, the door opened to an apron-covered Wu Tong, who also held a spatula.

"Are you out of your mind? Why are you pressing the doorbell at home? Why are you smiling like that? Come on in."

Wu Tong got slippers for Meng Fan then grabbed his suitcase. After Meng Fan came inside, she said, "The soup needs some more time. You can take a shower."

"Oh."

Meng Fan nodded with a stupid grin then walked toward the bathroom. He was looking at Wu Tong the whole time and didn't stop until he collided with the wall.

When he came out of the bathroom in a robe, he was humming, and then he got spooked by Wu Tong standing in front of him.

"Let me see your wounds."

When Meng Fan just stood there, she dragged him to the living room and pushed him down on the sofa. "I want to see where you're swollen."

Meng Fan's heart started beating really fast. He shook his head as if in a trance. "I'm not swollen."

"Not swollen?"

Wu Tong bit her lips lightly and grabbed him with the courage from sending those emojis earlier. Her face heated. "It's swollen."

Wu Tong wasn't one to go back on her word. She did what she said.

Meng Fan's soul left his body.

It's not good for someone to lose their focus or one could lose things.

This was how Meng Fan lost a few hundred million.

โ€ฆ๐‘›๐”ฌ๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐“ต๐‘›๐“”xt.๐” ๐‘‚๐‘€

When Yixin heard Meng Fan was coming back from Japan today, he flew from Shenzhen to Hangzhou. Traveling with him was an associate editor-in-chief and a few other colleagues. The big group showed Meng Fan's importance.

In addition to Meng Fan's "Legend of the Mountains and Seas" about to be serialized by Kodansha, his mysterious popularity and the fact that his comic, despite having no content, was already well-known, Penguin Animation Network was determined to sign him.

They arrived at one in the afternoon. Since Meng Fan was busy, they had to wait.

They didn't see him until after seven in the evening.

The meeting was held at the Damei Studio. The studio was spacious, and there was a conference room ideal for discussions.

If they were going to sign, there would be professionals at the studio who could take a look at the contract.

If Meng Fan signed the contract, he wouldn't be the same as a typical comic artist, especially in copyright. Meng Fan wanted to keep a lot of his copyright, or sign a partnership agreement, so a regular Penguin contract wouldn't be appropriate for him.

Meng Fan didn't show up until after his dinner with Wu Tong and taking her back to the studio at the school. At the door, Meng Fan saw Zhang Zhouwei and Flathead Bro sitting together looking at their phones. It seemed like Flathead Bro had been here a lot lately. So he probably was on the fast track with Yan Xixi.

They seemed to be streaming a game. Meng Fan heard the two of them saying excitedly, "Flathead Bro is cool! YTG is cool!"

What's going on? Why's Flathead Bro calling himself cool? What's YTG?

Meng Fan didn't ask why and just greeted them. He asked a studio member if the conference room was ready and checked it out. Soon, Yixin and his people arrived.

Yixin also graduated from the Huaxia Art Academy. He was a student of Qin Qiu as well as a classmate of Yan Xixi. He also knew a bunch of people at the studio. After he greeted everyone, he's made a nice foundation for the contract negotiations later.

Meng Fan went inside the conference room. He then passed out the pre-printed manuscripts to Yixin, the associate editor-in-chief, and others.

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Chapter 315: Copyright issue

Yixin was Meng Fan's editor-in-chief. Even the unsigned "Guide to Campus RoMANce" was managed by his team. No need to mention how good Meng Fan's drawing skills and painting style were; it went without saying. Of course, it's weird how visible the difference was in his level in the previous serialized comics and in what they were looking at now. However, the better the paintings, the better. No matter how strange it was, you can't question it face to face.

What's the use of questioning anyways, other than not allowing people to improve? It's only that this progress was really great, that's all.

The deputy editor-in-chief and the others had also seen Meng Fan's comics and knew about Meng Fan's drawing skills, so after unfolding the sketches, even though they could see the beauty of the world, they weren't as amazed as Goro Takahashi and others.

But after looking at the paintings, they moved on to storyline and character design, and their eyes lit up again.

Three scenes was obviously not much, but they saw Meng Fan's skillfulness in screenwriting and mirroring.

After reading, their first thought was 'Why did it end so quickly?' and a desire for continuation.

Looking back, there were already scenes which stuck in their minds and couldn't be easily erased, they left such a deep mark and a profound memory.

Like the tip of the iceberg, the world structure was revealing itself slowly; not much was said. These two characteristics were enough to guarantee a good comic.

Looking again at the outline and the pictures, it was clear that Meng Fan put a lot of effort into preparation of this comic.

Yixin, the deputy editor-in-chief, and others took their eyes from the sketches to look at Meng Fan and picked up the topic.

The deputy editor-in-chief was a man surnamed Zhu, who was probably in his forties, and looked very fierce and serious.

"Mr. Meng, please allow me to ask you a question first. Yesterday, a fight happened in Japan. Many people know that you were involved, including the Japanese. May I ask, what does Kodansha think of this?"

Not waiting for Meng Fan to answer, he added: "I don't mean nothing bad by this. It is about whether you can sign a contract with Kodansha and whether the comics can be serialized in the magazine published by Kodansha. This is also related to the contract between us. Whether you sign or not will definitely have an impact on our contract. What do you say?"

"Kodansha has already contacted me before our meeting." Meng Fan answered with a smile. "Of course, I cannot say the fighting incident didn't have any effect. However, currently there are no problems with signing the contract."

After taking a sip of water, Meng Fan was ready to take the initiative in his own hands and said: "To be honest, I could have signed with Kodansha when I was in Japan. I didn't do it at once only because I want the comics to be serialized also on the domestic website. I'm leaving some room for domestic websites to put forward requirements and conditions. If it can lead to a win-win situation, or even a triple-win situation, then it is naturally the best."

On the other hand, I could give the copyrights for Japan to Kodansha and the copyrights for Huaxia to you. In practice, it would lead to both sides not needing to interact very often. The only possible overlap would be the ownership of copyrights for the animated series. Naturally, I could first take this matter into my own hands and wait for the most profitable conditions, then find a team myself or join you and Kodansha for production."

Meng Fan listed the very simple contents of the contract he had prepared before and proceeded to persuade deputy editor-in-chief Zhu and said: "I will give you the copyrights to the series uploaded on Chinese websites, offprint publications, works of creative co-workers, and audios. I want to keep the rest of the copyrights, such as film or tv series adaptation rights. For copyrights concerning games and animation, I am very happy to cooperate with Penguin Animation Network."

Deputy editor-in-chief Zhu heard him out, kept frowning, muttered for a moment, and at last said: "Actually, you can authorize all other copyrights to us. After all, the resources we can provide are much larger than yours, and we can find better buyers for you. Taking profit into consideration, we are the best choice."

Meng Fan shook his head with a smile.

"This is indeed true from the perspective of income, but income is not the biggest priority for me."

Meng Fan didn't say that he didn't care about money at all.

"I also want to earn something, but I don't want my work's purpose to be just making money and nothing more. So, I really care about whether I can make decisions. Of course, I may not be able to succeed in the end. But well, it always feels more comfortable to destroy something with one's own hands. As for the resources you mentioned, I can actually find them; but obviously it won't be as convenient for me as it is for your big company."

All authors attached great importance to copyrights, especially after the negotiations had been established. Naturally, they wanted as much copyright as possible to stay in their hands. The profit was of secondary importance. It wasn't just acclaimed writers like Meng Fan or Mr. Sleepy but an overwhelming majority of authors. Basically everyone thought so, but sometimes it just wasn't realistic. It's just that not many people were willing to exchange the control over their work for little money.

Of course, it's the same with negotiations. At the beginning, everyone would be hesitant to give up their property, but they would also need to give themselves room for bargaining and compromise.

In the end, Meng Fan insisted on his initial conditions and signed a cooperation agreement with Penguin Animation Network similar to the one signed with Kodansha and also authorized several copyrights; for example, copyrights for comic spin-offs and novel adaptations. As for movie adaptations and games, the rights stayed in Meng Fan's hands.

As for animation rights, although they are still in Meng Fan's hands for now, Meng Fan might wait until Kodansha's representative comes over to discuss with the three parties.

The same contract was initially drafted, and neither party signed it.

Meng Fan contacted Takahashi Goro for explanation. Takahashi Goro called again soon after hanging up the phone. Kodansha was sending him and a close personnel to come to Huaxia tomorrow.

When Yixin and the deputy editor-in-chief heard about it, they decided not to go back but to stay in the city and wait for the Kodansha employees. If everything went well, they would sign the contract.

Meng Fan offered them a lift to the hotel. FlatHeadBro, who was still there, said that he would help Meng Fan and drive Yixin and the rest to the hotel.

Qin Jiaodao also came by car, but if she was to pick them up, they would have had to cram in her car, which couldn't be compared with FlatHeadBro's spacious Land Rover.

"Is writing a novel so profitable nowadays?"

The previous time, what Meng Fan saw as FlatHeadBro's saddled horse might have been a little donkey. FlatHeadBro unexpectedly stated that he had a car; it was just that at daytime, it was more convenient to get coffee and milk tea and operate a little electric stove. In the evening though, it appeared appropriate to drive to Jieyan. He hadn't expected that it was a Land Rover worth more than one million dollars.

Zhang Zhouwei, being right next to him, said with jealousy: "Whether or not does writing a novel make money โ€” that, I do not know. However, what I do know is that FlatHeadBro is a suburban nouveau riche. It is said that making a fortune overnight is a daydream, something of very low probability. However, in China, something like that not only isn't a daydream; it's pretty common. It reminds me of places like Hangzhou with its households scheduled to be resettled โ€” at least one to ten thousand of them. If the area is a little better, they will definitely not stop."๐‘›๐”ฌ๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐“ต๐‘›๐“”xt.๐” ๐‘‚๐‘€

Having seen that Meng Fan unexpectedly had put on an expression of jealousy, Zhang Zhouwei immediately distanced himself: "You jealous dummy!"

Meng Fan said: "I am not jealous of the resettlement, I am just thinking whether or not I must buy a car too."

Zhang Zhouwei kept teasing around: "What car are you going to buy? Where do you want to go? Just go on foot!"

"Brother Meng, you're back!"

Meng Fan was about to turn around and go back to the studio as it was a little cold outside. There was a man running anxiously from the other side of the road; it was Charlie.

Meng Fan supposed that Charlie parked his car nearby and asked him, laughing: "Charlie, are you going to the studio this late?"

"It's great that you're here!"

"Are you busy right now? There is this last-minute work at the studio; moreover, it's related to Di Dao. I rushed here, although I have already finished work. There is this movie, a DreamWorks animated motion picture with Mandarin dubbing. We've got some stuff to do at last! If you're not busy, come with me to see it."

Meng Fan thought for a while and came to a conclusion that it was no big deal. Wu Tong would probably assume he hasn't yet finished the meeting; furthermore, after signing a contract with The Chocolate Factory and getting rid of the "leeches," he didn't ever go out. He also felt kind of guilty, so he just nodded and said: "You go first; I will join you in a minute".

Of course, he was interested in that dubbing project, it was a valid point.

"Ok, ok."

Charlie rubbed his hands. In the courtyard, Zhang Zhouwei and some other people were laughing and greeting each other then quickly moved toward The Chocolate Factory. The day was getting more and more cold indeed.

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Chapter 316: Chinese Voiceover for Animation

๐‘›๐”ฌ๐’ฑ๐—ฒ๐“ต๐‘›๐“”xt.๐” ๐‘‚๐‘€

While Meng Fan told Damei Workshop he was going to the Chocolate Factory, Wu Ji and others were on a flight back to China.

Initially, there were more than ten days of training scheduled at the MMA Asia training camp. After the group fight at the Kyoto Dome, however, everyone involved had to stop their training.

The rest of the people, who were doing group training at a dojo, also had to make changes. At the very least, more than half of the friendship games and the formal competitions couldn't continue, so the group training's effectiveness was greatly affected.

The MMA Asia training camp had been held for seven years, and this year's session was undoubtedly the least effective.

"Ji Bro."

Lao Hei switched seats and sat next to Wu Ji. He asked curiously, "Do you think Master Meng would agree?"

Wu Ji looked at Lao Hei sideways, "You call me Ji Bro and that kid Master Meng? What's wrong with this picture?"

"Aye, I'm a moron."

Lao Hei slapped his face and asked again. "Okay, Ji Bro, do you think your brother-in-law would agree?" He then chuckled. "Ji Bro, is this a better way to call Master Meng?"

Wu Ji didn't want to waste time arguing with Lao Hei, but the older man's question did annoy him. He thought and replied, "I doubt he'd agree. Meng Fan is afraid of pain. I had asked if he was interested in MMA fights before. He's probably not interested in this challenge fight either. This fight is not a contract fight, but it is a formal MMA fight."

Lao Hei seemed to agree, though he did look a little resigned. "Even though Master Meng is not a formal MMA fighter, he's obviously really good. It was crazy how those professional Korean and Japanese fighters challenged Master Meng, an amateur fighter. I was really looking forward to Master Meng throwing down those two, especially that Korean guy. He was too cocky."

"Too cocky? You better practice, so you can win one day!"

"Ji Bro, don't provoke me. I really do want to beat him!"

โ€ฆ

"'The Croods 2?'"

Meng Fan greeted a group of people when he arrived at the Chocolate Factory, then he saw the name of the Dreamworks film. His eyes lit up. "Is this 'The Croods 2?' It's definitely playing?"

"The Croods" played in '13; it had great ratings and reviews. This film was one of Meng Fan's favorites from Dreamworks.

After the great box office and reviews, Dreamworks quickly started production of the sequel. But due to operational reasons, industry competition, and company mergers, the film was postponed from '17 to '18. Then the film was stopped by the producers. It wasn't until one year after Dreamworks was acquired by Universal, and during '17 that the project was relaunched and confirmed to air the following year.

After several cancellations, Meng Fan thought there was no chance the film would air the following year. But now, the Chinese voiceover schedule is out, so it's pretty certain the film will air next year.

"Where's the sample film?"

Meng Fan was excited and wanted to see the film.

Charlie chuckled. "There's no sample, just a few clips. We're still picking the cast, so we don't have a sample. When we have finished casting, we'll have a sample. As far as I know, this film would play around the Lunar New Year, so it's two months away. There could be a sample film in a month."

Meng Fan was a little disappointed. Well, at least he would have a few clips to watch, it was better than watching the trailer.

"Director Di was Ugga in the first Croods movie, she was the Chinese voiceover for the female lead's mom. This time, she'd probably be the dubbing director for the whole movie. She gave me the voiceover schedule."

Charlie took out the character cards and told Meng Fan, "When I was waiting for you, I called Director Di and told her you were here. She said some of the cast from the first film would be replaced and recommended you to be the voice for Guy, Ugga's brother Tank, or the new villain in the second film. They're all important characters."

To be honest, Charlie was envious. Di Feifei really valued Meng Fan.

Meng Fan seemed eager. "Let's watch the clips."

While most young people liked to watch the original when watching films from overseas, Chinese-dubbed versions were still a big part of the market. There have been some classics with dubbed versions. Some of them were even better than the original, such as dubbed versions of animations from Disney, Dreamworks, and Pixar.

Take "Croods," for example, Meng Fan watched the dubbed version during his first task when he couldn't get the original. The quality was beyond his expectation. Even after he watched the original version while doing the second task, the voice of Grug was still Tony Leung and not the original voiceover actor, Nicholas Cage.

Of course, the voiceover for Guy was still quite different from the original voice. It wasn't so much that Huang Xiaoming did a bad job, but that Ryan Reynolds was too good.

After they watched the clip and voiceover requirements, Meng Fan gave samples for all three important roles Director Di recommended him for. It would be up to Director Di and the Chinese producers to decide if he'd get any of the roles.

Meng Fan was efficient, so he got the samples done in very little time. While the other CVs were still hard at work at the workshop, he got to leave.

He rushed back to school to Hu Heng's workshop just in time for Wu Tong. The two of them smiled at each other. Together, they walked toward the girls' dorm. Wu Tong put her arm inside Meng Fan's.

So he came all this way just to walk Wu Tong back to the girls' dorm. There were less than 400 meters between Hu Heng's workshop and the dorm, yet Meng Fan managed to turn the walk into 1,314 steps. If time allowed, Meng Fan could easily walk another 520 steps.

Of course, if Wu Tong allowed, Meng Fan wouldn't walk to the girls' dorm at all.

"What if you moved in?"

Meng Fan had wanted to say this for a hundred times but still didn't dare.

"It's getting colder. Go home."

Downstairs from the girls' dorm, Wu Tong closed Meng Fan's collar and gave him her scarf. She said, "Let's jog twenty minutes later than usual starting tomorrow. Do you have a hand warmer? Bring one next time, you'd feel warmer."

Meng Fan grabbed Wu Tong's hand, he chuckled. "This is my hand warmer. I do want to keep it with me all the time."

"Stop fooling around. Go home already."

Wu Tong rolled her eyes at Meng Fan and headed back into the dorm. She smiled at everyone who saw them.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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