Stuck in a Chinese novel

Wei Jun was in his office, busy as usual, focused on the work he had to take care of. His days had been filled with work and nothing but work. The business expansion in many cities at once, the political implications of such a rapid expansion, and the pushback from several other corporations around the empire.

Now that the connection between the biker and the Ruan enterprises was clear, since the biker would only target the cities the Ruan enterprises would be expanding into, many were keeping their eyes on Wei Jun to connect the biker to the Ruan enterprises somehow.

Even if the military and the CSF were remaining silent, if definite proof was given, they would have no choice but to intervene. They were silent thus far because it was nothing more than a speculation at this point.

With all of that going on, one would think Wei Jun would have no time to think of the future, but Wei Jun was coping quite well. Not only was he making a killer amount of money, but he was also doing really well in terms of influence and manpower.

At the moment, without a doubt, Wei Jun had the biggest cultivator force in the entire empire after the military and the empire's forces. Even the sect didn't have that many personnel. Of course, Wei Jun's manpower was more on the side of quantity than quality.

He only had four grandmasters, one fifth circle mage, and one sixth circle mage, who was Natasha. Melissa was a talent, but Wei Jun didn't particularly want her. Not only were the girls against that, Wei Jun had a feeling it would be very difficult bringing her to his side, given her loyalty to her current organization.

Natasha was different in that sense, so he was more focused on her, even if she was lower in terms of talent. Wei Jun sighed and closed all the files once he was done for the day. There was only so much he could do. All he could do now was to wait for the protagonist to show up.

In the novel, Li Fan Sho completed his breakthrough in three years, and one year had already passed. But Wei Jun had a feeling it wouldn't go the same as it did in the novel. He had a strong feeling that the protagonist would be showing up much sooner than before.

When, though, was the question?

Wei Jun leaned back in his chair and turned around to look outside the window. As he gazed at the setting sun, his mind rolled on to the events to come and the events that had already passed. How he should have done some things differently and how his decisions have impacted his current situation.

Just as he was pondering those decisions, the door to his office abruptly opened, and a green-eyed blonde beauty entered the office in a hurry.

But she abruptly came to a stop as she entered the office, coming to a stop, she took a few deep breaths while her gaze remained fixed on Wei Jun.

Wei Jun didn't need to be told what was happening. He smiled and asked, "Have they made a move?"

"..." Natasha remained silent, but Wei Jun simply smiled as that was all the answer he needed. He looked at her, his expression gentle, and asked, "What now?"

"..." Natasha once again remained silent. Wei Jun kept looking at her for a while before she broke her gaze and said, "You remember your promise, don't you?"

Wei Jun nodded, but instead of an answer, he asked, "Have I done anything otherwise?"

"No, you haven't," Natasha replied. Although there was a lot of killing done by Wei Jun, wherever and whenever he could spare someone, he did so, honoring his promise to Natasha. But now, it was Natasha's turn. It was her turn to show where her true loyalty lay.

"What do I need to do?" But, contrary to what Wei Jun expected, there was no hesitation in Natasha's voice. Looking at her, Wei Jun's face broke into a beautiful and natural bright smile as he could only look at her determined face for a while before he said, "Simple..."

He looked at her as he sucked in a deep breath, "Betray me."

~~

"What is the report, Student Melissa?" A voice asked through a crystal ball that Natasha held in her hands. She gave a deep bow before she replied, "As you predicted, the Ruan family's influence has reached the peak. To the point that even the imperial family is wary of them."

"Is an invasion possible?" The voice asked.

"Negative. The chances of an invasion failing are too high. As you suspected, master, there is someone in the empire, someone hidden. I haven't been able to find out who it is, but Wei Jun Ruan is in contact with that person." Melissa replied.

The voice from the other side hummed for a while before it asked again, "And you haven't been able to find out who it is? Does the same stand for student Natasha?"

"..." Melissa remained silent for a while. Natasha was her best friend, so she didn't want to betray her, however, there had been implications of Natasha's behavior. Implications that weren't good in terms of her loyalty. Her loyalty was to be questioned, and in her organization, questions weren't too hard to answer. A simple spell, and Natasha would spill everything she knew.

The biggest contribution to Melissa's doubt was Natasha's rapid rise in power. Natasha was now a sixth circle mage, despite her lower talent.

A sixth circle mage was a junior professor at her academy, so it wasn't a position to think lowly of. That rapid rise only occurred when Natasha came to the Ruan's side, so it was highly possible that it was due to the Ruan's resources. If someone could give her enough resources despite her lower talent, something her own academy hadn't done for her, it was possible Natasha's loyalty might waver to the side that favored her more.

"I... cannot say, master." In the end, Melissa chose to believe in Natasha. She could only hope that her faith wouldn't be betrayed by her best friend. The voice on the other end was well aware of that as well, so it said, "Summon Student Natasha."

"Yes, master," Melissa replied, but before she could get up to leave, the door to her room knocked.

"Who is it?" Natasha had locked the room since her conversation was to be kept a secret. If found, Wei Jun had every reason to slit her throat and as she was now, she didn't have much confidence in doing so.

"It's me. Why is your door locked?" Natasha's usual jubilant voice came from the other side. Melissa sighed and stood up to open the door. As Natasha came in her view, Melissa grabbed her and pulled her in before anyone could see.

"Hey!" Natasha called out, but Melissa didn't stop. She dragged her to the crystal ball and pointed at it.

Natasha immediately understood what it meant and immediately bowed a little to show respect to the voice on the other side as she said, "Student Natasha greets master."

"How are you, child?" The voice on the end changed, and it was a woman's voice this time. Natasha's finger dug into her palm as she heard that voice. A voice she didn't want to hear. The voice of the person who had abandoned her due to her talent.

Natasha remained silent and frozen in place. Melissa could tell the conflict Natasha was in, but she still nudged her to pull her out of her trance and flicked her head at the crystal ball. No matter the past, it wasn't a wise choice not to answer a senior professor of the academy, an existence even above her master.

"I am in good health, Head Professor Miller," Natasha replied in a monotonous voice. Her usual jubilant voice was nowhere to be heard.

"I heard you recently advanced to the sixth circle." The woman's voice came from the other side, as if everything was normal. Even Melissa couldn't help but think that was a little cruel, but it wasn't like she was in any position to speak.

"Yes, Head Professor Miller," Natasha replied in the same monotonous tone.

"Good. Good. You are showing signs of usefulness after all. Nothing like your father." The woman's voice from the crystal ball said. Natasha's fingers completely dug into the flesh of her palm, making her bleed. At the mention of her father, she couldn't help but remember the days when she was only loved, nothing else.

"I understand you have a request. Do this properly, and your request will be granted." The woman's voice came, delivering an order she expected to be fulfilled. She didn't care for anything else, or how it was done; however, she was sure of one thing.

A pawn would always remain a pawn.

But, even pawns were people, weren't they?

"Why?" Natasha asked in a low voice.

"Pardon?" The woman asked.

"Why do I have to do what you ask of me?" Natasha asked.

"Natasha!" Melissa said, but Natasha looked at her with unbridled anger in her eyes. Melissa couldn't see it before since her head was lowered, but now that she could, Melissa had to take a step back in fear.

"So the pawn rebels, huh?" The woman at the other end was amused as she said so.