Chapter 661: The Five Broken Pillars
’Still playing dumb.’
The CEO was grinding her teeth at the shameless man on the other end of the call. He spoke as though he had genuinely had no idea that Mellory Financial’s clothing line had exploded overnight, despite the fact that he had confidently proposed a ten-million-unit sales target, demanded a thirty-percent share of the profits, and even offered to wait until the advertisements had finished running before collecting his payment. How could he possibly have been unaware of what that advertising would do?
Vivian understood perfectly well that Marcus had known exactly what the Dominion advertisement could achieve from the very beginning. He had simply chosen to keep quiet about it, and now he was pretending he had been completely uninvolved in the results.
She had no choice but to call him out. "Marcus, stop joking around. The press conference is tomorrow, and I still have an entire mountain of things to deal with today. I’m drowning over here."
"Heh."
Marcus finally stopped teasing her. "Beauty, I’ve been working myself to death for you. If you don’t believe me, ask Tyler and Emily. They’ll tell you everything. I’ve already gone over the arrangements with them."
After a moment, he added, "And Beauty, if anyone asks about the game promotion at tomorrow’s press conference, don’t mention me. Just say you had some employees enter the game to make connections and promote the company."
"You..."
Vivian hesitated before asking, "Marcus, you’re not coming to the press conference tomorrow?"
So she actually wanted him there?
Marcus declined without hesitation. "I don’t like being in the spotlight, and I don’t like people bothering me. You know I’m happier staying out of that kind of trouble."
He paused, then added in a more serious tone, "The advertising side is solid now. What matters next is the clothing itself, especially the designs and quality. That’s your battlefield, so don’t let everything fall apart at the finish line."
"Mm."
Vivian was confident about that part. She nodded, the fairy-like features of her beautiful face filled with quiet assurance. "Marcus, don’t worry. I won’t let that happen."
"Good."
After dealing with Vivian several times, Marcus had come to genuinely respect her abilities. She wasn’t someone who needed him constantly looking over her shoulder, and as long as Mellory Financial could keep up with the sudden surge in demand, he had little reason to worry about the expansion.
"Oh, and one more thing. Don’t forget the men’s clothing and underwear lines I mentioned last time."
"Mm."
Vivian nodded again, taking his words as seriously as if he were already the head of Mellory Financial himself. "Marcus, I remember. I’ll have the follow-up lines prepared immediately."
She trusted his judgment completely by now.
Seeing how obediently she was taking his advice, Marcus couldn’t resist teasing her again. "Beauty, if we really hit the target this time, will you finally have a drink with me?"
He couldn’t help it. He liked beautiful women who were obedient and easy to get along with, especially someone like Vivian, whose natural beauty was almost otherworldly, with delicate features that gave her an ethereal, jade-like elegance.
"You..."
Unfortunately, Vivian did not find the joke amusing at all. Her expression immediately soured, and Marcus could only sigh.
"Fine, fine. I’m kidding. I’ve got something urgent to take care of, so I’ll hang up first."
Seriously, was he really that annoying?
"You..."
Vivian had only just opened her mouth when the call was already disconnected. She stared at the phone for a moment before silently complaining to herself.
’Stupid Marcus.’ What urgent business could he possibly have that required him to hang up so quickly?
"Stupid guy."
She muttered the complaint again as she slipped her phone into her pocket, but the annoyance on her face quickly faded when she thought about Mellory Financial’s booming clothing line. The situation was developing far beyond anything she had dared to hope for, and if things continued like this, even her family would have to look at her differently.
"Marcus..."
Vivian’s hopes swelled as she thought about everything that had happened. The opportunities appearing one after another, the seemingly impossible problems Marcus had helped her overcome, and all the unexpected surprises he had brought into her life made a dream she had carried for years suddenly feel within reach.
Her eyes gradually grew moist.
"Ah!"
Vivian suddenly realized what she had just done.
"Zina!"
The stunning woman standing beside her had witnessed everything. Even Vivian had to admit that Zina’s beauty was extraordinary, and having such a woman watch her lose her composure over a man was more than a little embarrassing.
A blush quickly spread across Vivian’s pretty face.
But Zina did not tease her. Instead, she looked at Vivian with a serious expression, her gaze carrying a hint of concern.
"Vivian, this Marcus, no..."
"Zina."
Vivian was sharp enough to know exactly what Zina was about to say. Embarrassment immediately flooded her, and she hurriedly interrupted before her aunt could finish.
"Auntie, Marcus really did pull off an incredible advertising campaign. What should we do next? Should we expand tomorrow’s press conference and make it larger than originally planned?"
"Vivian, your status..."
Zina ignored the interruption. For Vivian’s sake, she was determined to finish what she had started, but before she could say anything else, hurried footsteps sounded outside the room.
A rapid knock followed, and Ms. Lindsey rushed inside.
"CEO, the marketing department just reported that pre-orders are about to exceed two million units, and the calls haven’t stopped coming in."
She looked both excited and helpless as she continued, "CEO, with the scale and production plans we originally prepared, our inventory simply can’t keep up. We never expected so many distributors to approach us on their own. Once they saw the designs and confirmed the quality, they started placing enormous orders, and some of them are even transferring payment immediately. This is completely beyond anything we included in our original projections."
"Mm."
Vivian remained calm. She considered the situation for only a moment before giving a series of instructions.
"First, quietly have Tyler and Emily come and report to me. Then send out a notice that all general managers are to attend a meeting in one hour."
"Yes, CEO."
Ms. Lindsey turned to leave, but Vivian suddenly remembered something.
"Wait."
Ms. Lindsey stopped.
"Apparently that game, Dominion, requires something called a VR pod to play, right? Order two for me and Zina."
"Understood."
Ms. Lindsey hurried out.
Vivian then turned toward Zina. "Auntie, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. You have to help me."
"Haah."
Zina let out a long sigh. For now, she could only put aside what she had wanted to say about Marcus. She nodded at Vivian.
"Of course I’ll help you. Why else would I have come here?"
"Marcus..."
Zina quietly murmured the man’s name.
From everything she had heard, it seemed that all Marcus had done was arrange an advertisement inside Dominion, and Mellory Financial’s clothing line had exploded as a result.
In her eyes, that alone did not prove much about him. Anyone with enough money could place an advertisement, and the incredible response could just as easily have been a matter of timing and luck rather than any particular talent on his part. Zina therefore remained unconvinced by Vivian’s growing trust in him.
And she certainly had no good impression of the arrogant man who had once dared to call her an underwear model.
After hearing the casual, teasing way he spoke to Vivian just now, that impression had not improved. If anything, her resistance toward him had only become stronger.
"Oh no, I forgot!"
Vivian suddenly slapped a hand lightly against her forehead.
She had been so caught up in everything else that she had completely forgotten to ask Marcus for his in-game name. If she wanted to find him in Dominion, she didn’t even know where to start.
Meanwhile, Marcus was currently far away from Mellory Financial.
He carefully guided Blackie through the sky, avoiding the flying monsters scattered throughout the area. Cloud-Treading Black Wolves prowled through the air, Winged Grasshoppers darted unpredictably between the clouds, and Gale Battle Swallows swept past at frightening speeds. Marcus remained alert throughout the journey, choosing his route carefully rather than relying on Blackie’s speed alone.
After nearly two hours of flight, they finally arrived at the Magma Grove.
The Magma Grove was not particularly large. Aside from several towering stone caverns, most of the area was occupied by pools of red magma. The molten rock bubbled and churned beneath them, occasionally erupting with a deep rumble as streams of lava flowed freely through the caverns.
"Hyah!"
With a sharp cry, Blackie descended.
Marcus kept them at an altitude of around thirty meters, just beyond the attack range of the Level 70 Red Demon Wolves below. From there, he carefully scanned the area, searching for the cavern where Beastmaster Manor had once sealed the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf.
He soon found what he was looking for. Several charred corpses lay scattered across the ground.
Marcus followed the trail of remains until he reached a small stone grotto. The entrance was covered in obvious signs of battle, with deep scratches and scorched marks running across the stone. More scattered bones could be seen inside.
They belonged to the members of the Roaring Tiger Squad.
Because Lady Silvia’s situation had never been resolved, the remains of the squad had never been properly collected. Whoever had designed this part of the quest had clearly intended for the bodies and traces of battle to remain behind as clues for whoever eventually came searching.
Marcus stepped into the grotto.
At its center was a circular pool of fire. The surface bubbled continuously, producing a deep, muffled rumble as enormous amounts of fire energy poured out from within it.
The original formation was still relatively easy to recognize.
Five energy stones had once stood around the pool, forming the Celestial Star Fire Dragon Formation, with the fire pool itself serving as the center of the formation. The formation had continuously drawn fire energy from the pool before directing it toward the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf trapped within, using that concentrated power to stimulate the creature’s latent fire magic and force it toward evolution.
But the formation had been destroyed.
The fire pool itself remained, yet all five energy pillars had been shattered. The broken pieces lay scattered across the grotto, making it obvious what had happened.
The Blue-Flame Howling Wolf had broken through the formation and escaped.
And the Roaring Tiger Squad had paid the price.
Their corpses were proof enough.
Marcus’s gaze moved around the grotto until he noticed something unusual beside the fire pool.
A red stone turtle shell lay half-buried among the debris.
"Insight."
He immediately went to work.
One after another, Marcus cast Insight over the grotto, the fire pool, the shattered energy pillars, the red stone turtle shell, and the corpses scattered across the ground.
Ding!
Ding!
The familiar notification sounds continued ringing in his ears as information surfaced from the various remnants.
Marcus’s eyes gradually narrowed as he read through the details.
Piece by piece, the scattered clues began to connect.
The broken formation, the condition of the corpses, the residual fire energy, the stone turtle shell, and the traces left behind by the escaping creature all pointed toward the same sequence of events.
Marcus quickly reconstructed what had happened here.
These remnants had clearly been deliberately left behind as clues for whoever undertook the quest later. The designers had expected players to investigate the grotto and slowly piece together the truth from the evidence.
What they probably had not expected was for Marcus’s Insight skill to be powerful enough to practically reconstruct the entire scene from the remnants alone.