Chapter 280: Willing to Be Vilified to Protect and Save the Factory?
But now, all the evidence pointed to Yun Zhenyue.
Konglan had no choice but to suspect her.
Her icy gaze fell on Yun Zhenyue in the corner, and she ordered her subordinates to bring the entire group over.
"President..."
Yun Zhenyue said politely as she slowly approached.
'I can't believe I was found out so quickly.'
'Maybe I shouldn't have trusted that feeling?'
'But what's done is done. If the President asks, I'm not going to lie.'
'Besides, the plan was always to be a mole.'
She had always known there would come a time when she'd have to stand against the Factory.
'I'll probably lose my position.'
'Worst-case scenario, the President makes an example of me and has me killed?'
If it really came to that, Yun Zhenyue still had a few aces up her sleeve.
For one, there were her various skills, like On-Site Replication.
For another, she could summon the little paper dolls she left in Fengdu Ghost City, as well as Lily and her other contracted entities.
And finally... there was Gu Yuan's status as a Ghost Lord.
If she threw all caution to the wind, she could also go to the orphanage for backup.
But Yun Zhenyue didn't plan on doing that.
She had many cards she could play.
"Call me Konglan, or just Lan."
Despite this being their first meeting, Konglan was surprisingly gentle with Yun Zhenyue.
Her gaze was filled with admiration and concern.
Of course.
Long before this meeting.
Konglan had looked at Yun Zhenyue's file photo dozens of times.
Just that maxed-out loyalty score!
That score alone was enough to earn Yun Zhenyue a massive amount of goodwill from her, a fellow fanatic of the Ghost Lord.
After all, her own loyalty score was only 99.
At this moment, Konglan didn't seem like a superior.
Instead, she seemed more like a kind mentor, a dear friend, or even someone passing on a legacy.
"L... Lan."
Seeing this, Yun Zhenyue felt even more guilty.
Her heart was filled with complicated feelings.
'It felt like I had let this woman down.'
'And this wasn't a failure born from trying my best; this was deliberate sabotage. Like a spoiled brat, I had carelessly smashed someone else's high hopes.'
A strange sense of regret welled up inside her.
'Being caught between the Factory and the players is agonizing.'
'Wait, no!'
Yun Zhenyue suddenly snapped back to her senses.
'I'm not actually some loyal courtier!'
'What the hell is there to be upset about?!!'
'Her charisma is so powerful...'
'Is this woman a Succubus?'
Xiao Jiu, Xiao Ba, and Li Ruxue all obediently followed behind Yun Zhenyue.
Each wore a different expression, but none of them seemed nervous.
Any trace of suspicion they might have had for Yun Zhenyue was long gone.
It never even crossed their minds that Yun Zhenyue was the one behind the incident in the cafeteria.
"Miss President, you're so beautiful," Xiao Jiu blurted out, her eyes glazed over as she stared at Konglan.
Xiao Ba's pupils shrank at her words!
How could she be so rude to the President?
She hurriedly grabbed Xiao Jiu, wanting to force her to bow and apologize.
"It's alright, there's no need for that," Konglan said, shaking her head. She wasn't offended at all; she couldn't care less about anything outside the Factory.
"I know you're close with Xiaoyue. You can call me Lan, just like she does."
"Okay~ Lan!" Xiao Jiu said happily.
"Mm~"
Konglan made some small talk with the two sisters.
The topic was the two missions Yun Zhenyue had taken them on before.
At this, all of Xiao Jiu's sleepiness vanished!
She began to embellish the deeds of her master, Yun Zhenyue!
She was laying the praise on thick, practically worshiping Yun Zhenyue!
She described Yun Zhenyue as seeing through Field Mouse's scheme at a single glance, as poised and unruffled as a master strategist facing down an entire army. With just a few words, she'd bamboozled Field Mouse into a state of utter confusion and then used a clever ruse to draw out the true mastermind.
As for the Nether Flame Clan?
Apparently, her master had been visited in a dream by the Ghost Lord himself! She had read the stars, seized the very fortune of heaven and earth, and with the wisdom of a sage, divined the location of the Celestial Calamity. Then, without a single casualty, she had captured it and offered it up to the Factory.
...
All in all.
Yun Zhenyue's ears were burning from all the exaggerated praise.
And yet, Konglan listened with rapt attention, not questioning a single word. It was as if she believed every bit of it, that these feats were only natural for Yun Zhenyue. In fact, she seemed to think Xiao Jiu wasn't laying it on thick enough!
"Oh, right, Master hasn't slept well these past two days because of this mission..."
Hearing Xiao Jiu's words.
Konglan turned to Yun Zhenyue, her gaze softening.
"You don't have to push yourself so hard."
"You are more important than the mission."
Yun Zhenyue: "...I understand."
'Crap!'
'Now I feel even more guilty.'
At this moment.
The ghost chefs awaiting judgment were completely dumbfounded.
The ghost chef who had suspected Yun Zhenyue, in particular, was now drenched in a cold sweat.
He wished the ground would swallow him whole!
'How could I have ever suspected the Vice General Manager?'
'Look at the way the President treats her.'
'She's treating her like her own flesh and blood!!'
'How could someone like that possibly spike the food with laxatives to poison her own people?'
The head ghost chef looked coldly at the two chefs whose faces were growing more and more desperate.
'I told them. You can suspect anyone!'
'But suspecting the unwaveringly loyal Vice General Manager?'
'That was just courting death!'
"Oh, and don't feel too bad about what happened today. Once the employees have recovered, you can just take the team out again."
Konglan said, comforting Yun Zhenyue.
"I called you over mainly because I wanted to meet you."
"As for this cur," Konglan said, her gaze falling on the ghost chef's despairing face, "to think he actually suspected you of using laxatives. Hmph!" She couldn't help but let out a cold snort.
The terrifying aura of a Great Evil!
The pressure slammed into the chef, forcing him to his knees with a THUD.
Never mind explaining, he couldn't even get a single word out.
Now he was even beginning to doubt himself.
'Could I have accidentally poured the laxatives into the pot myself?'
'Or maybe someone controlled me and erased my memory?'
"I understand what's happened. It's highly likely a mole is trying to slander you and drive a wedge between us. Such a pathetic tactic... it's utterly naive."
A cold light flashed in Konglan's eyes.
"Rest assured, I will drag that mole out into the light!"
"No matter the cost, I won't just stand by and watch you be slandered."
At this moment!
Everyone knew.
The President had made up her mind.
A bloody storm was about to sweep through the Purgatory Factory!
Without a glance at the two ghost chefs, Konglan immediately announced, "Lock them both in prison to await judgment."
Subordinates were soon dragging the two chefs away.
They were about to disappear from Yun Zhenyue's sight.
Faced with this situation.
Yun Zhenyue couldn't just sit and watch.
She couldn't just stand by and watch people be framed—or even killed—because of her.
"W-wait, Lan!" Yun Zhenyue took a deep breath and stopped them. "Don't blame them. I did it."
As her voice fell!
A complex look appeared in Konglan's eyes.
She wanted to speak, but stopped.
There was nothing to say.
Finally, she rubbed her temples and ordered her subordinates, "Let them go!"
Actually, she had long guessed it was Yun Zhenyue's doing.
But as long as Yun Zhenyue didn't admit it, she could turn a blind eye. Everyone makes mistakes. Although delaying the mission would inevitably cause losses for the Factory, compared to Yun Zhenyue herself, it was all insignificant.
It could only be said that.
Her bias toward Yun Zhenyue.
Made her more than willing to pin the blame on these nobodies.
"Do you... know what you're saying?"
Disappointment clouded Konglan's gaze as she looked at Yun Zhenyue, a deep ache visible in her eyes.
"Sabotaging the Factory's missions is a major taboo. The lightest punishment is being stripped of your position."
"If you're trying to plead for them, you can take back what you said. I won't kill them."
'She won't kill them?'
'But then maybe more innocent people would die because of me.'
Yun Zhenyue could see how much Konglan valued and favored her.
Her thoughts were a tangled mess.
Just as she was about to speak, to take full responsibility and lay bare all the thoughts in her heart...
Suddenly, a subordinate ran quickly to Konglan's side. His expression was extremely grim, and his gaze toward Yun Zhenyue was now filled with respect and disbelief.
"Hmm?"
"What did you say—"
After Konglan heard his words.
Her expression changed drastically.
It was because she had just received a report.
That so-called Soul Inn was actually a trap!
A trap designed specifically for the Purgatory Factory!
From beginning to end, it was all a lie!
The owner of the Soul Inn hadn't been injured at all. In fact, she was fully prepared. The employee who brought them the intel was a mole, and he has already fled.
And the ones who orchestrated this entire conspiracy were the Purgatory Factory's mortal enemies!
—an SSS-level instance dungeon known as the Living Body Company!
They had laid an inescapable trap at the Soul Inn.
Whether it was three hundred core employees, or three thousand!
Anyone who went would die!
What's more, they planned to alter their appearances, kill the Purgatory Factory's employees, and assume their identities to infiltrate our ranks. Then, coordinating from both inside and out, they would have dealt a devastating blow to the Purgatory Factory!
So vicious!
In an instant!
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Konglan's face.
An immense sense of relief washed over her.
If things had proceeded normally, if Yun Zhenyue hadn't used the laxative, she might have already led the employees to the Soul Inn, and the Living Body Company's plot would have succeeded.
Thankfully...
Thankfully, none of that had happened.
Konglan finally understood.
Why Yun Zhenyue had tried to stop them!
Even going so far as to use laxatives to stop the mission!
Her suspicion, her pain, her disappointment...
Now, all of it transformed into deep regret, protectiveness, and a profound sense of apology.
"So... you were willing to be misunderstood, to bear all that blame, just to protect and save the Factory?"
"You've suffered so much..."