Chapter 54: Searching for a Needle in a Haystack
The situation was escalating.
The impact of rumors on one's reputation is enormous, especially a scandal like this that mixes truth with falsehood. It directly portrayed Yan Shao Zhe as a scumbag who loved and left, playing the field with both men and women, and painted Qian Duo Duo as a deeply devoted but homosexual man.
And so, the two of them each earned a title.
Shrek's Number One Playboy—Yan Shao Zhe.
Shrek's Most Devoted—Qian Duo Duo.
Although these two nicknames might not have any special meaning at first glance on the Douluo Continent, for those who had read "Dragon and Phoenix Entwined," they sounded incredibly strange.
This was unacceptable to them.
On the Douluo Continent, when had Titled Douluo not been at the pinnacle of the Spirit Master world, respected wherever they went?
As the deans of Shrek Academy, their status was comparable to that of an empire's monarch. This blow to their reputation directly sent Yan Shao Zhe and the others into a rage.
In this regard, even the Sea God's Pavilion became serious, even convening a Sea God's Pavilion meeting for this matter.
In this period where the four great empires could go to war at any moment, any disturbance would strike Shrek's sensitive nerves, let alone a rumor that had spread across almost the entire continent.
Even Lin Yun himself had not expected that this wicked plan he had concocted would actually alarm the Sea God's Pavilion and even trigger one of its meetings.
"Your Majesty, the Ten Thousand Demon King says that Shrek Academy has begun a full-scale search for the mastermind behind the sale of 'Dragon and Phoenix Entwined.' He asks for your next instructions."
Just as Lin Yun returned to his dormitory after a day of classes, the latest news came through the Ice Empress's mental link.
"Oh? They're only reacting now?" Lin Yun shook his head.
Shrek's vigilance was somewhat disappointing to him. They didn't extinguish the spark when it was first lit, but instead waited until the wildfire was unstoppable before looking for the person behind it.
Ten thousand years of glory and being at the top had made them forget what a sense of crisis was, made them forget that they were, in fact, just an academy.
"Is 'Dragon and Phoenix Harmony' finished?" Lin Yun asked.
"It is finished. Thanks to Your Majesty's foresight in bringing that Light Unicorn over in advance. With her here, that human named Qing Ye has barely rested, working day and night on the manuscript," the Ice Empress said with some admiration.
"It's really hard to imagine he's just an ordinary person. He's more of a Palu than Palu."
"Trust my judgment. I told you, he has a bright future," Lin Yun grinned. "Give the order, the second step of the plan can begin!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
...
In a dim little room, only a single soul tool lamp cast a faint glow. The room was extremely quiet, with only the continuous rustling of a pen on paper.
In front of the lamp, a handsome young man was writing furiously. Although his face was haggard, his bloodshot eyes were extremely fervent, and a terrifyingly crazed smile remained on his face.
"Jie jie jie jie..."
Outside the room, the mature woman in a JK uniform and black stockings shivered violently upon hearing this laughter. Although she had heard it many times, she couldn't help but feel her skin crawl every time.
"Heavens... I am a Light Unicorn, representing the sacred light. Why must I participate in such a dark plan!" Sheng Xin clutched her forehead in pain, her tone carrying a hint of a whimper.
Thump!
A thick book was thrown from inside the room, landing precisely on the table in front of her.
The four characters on the cover—"Dragon and Phoenix Harmony"!
"Uh, actually, a little darkness isn't so bad!" Sheng Xin's eyes lit up. She eagerly picked up the book, flipped to a page, and began to read with great relish.
"Oh, this is so good!"
"Jie jie jie jie～"
...
In Shrek's inner courtyard, the task of finding the mastermind behind "Dragon and Phoenix Entwined" had been placed at the very top of the Supervisory Group's mission list, marked with the highest red-level designation.
A large number of inner courtyard students swarmed out, beginning a continent-wide search for the so-called mastermind.
Besides Shrek City, the footprints of the inner courtyard students covered the entire continent. Even the Sun Moon Empire had inner courtyard students infiltrating and beginning a secret search.
Within Shrek City, the Shrek City Garrison conducted a carpet search, as the initial source was, after all, Shrek City.
But even with Shrek Academy putting forth nearly all its effort, they still couldn't find the person behind the compilation of "Dragon and Phoenix Entwined." Instead, they unexpectedly found many missed targets from their Supervisory Group's previous missions.
Dean's Office.
Yan Shao Zhe sat at his desk with a grim expression, browsing through the search updates sent back by the inner courtyard students.
They had not found any clues related to the mastermind. According to those who possessed the book, the location where "Dragon and Phoenix Entwined" was sold was never fixed.
Only those with very good luck were fortunate enough to encounter them.
Moreover, after purchasing the book, the buyer would always immediately forget the seller's face, even forgetting their age or whether they were male or female.
"A conspiracy! This is definitely a conspiracy against Shrek!" Yan Shao Zhe slammed his fist on the table, squeezing the words out from between his teeth.
"Shao Zhe, is the situation really that serious?" Beside him, Cai Mei'er asked with a worried tone.
Yan Shao Zhe nodded, his face full of bitterness. "Mei'er, don't you understand yet? It was too fast! So fast that we didn't even have time to react, and almost the entire continent already knows about this book."
"And look at this, everyone who bought the book forgets the seller's face. This includes Spirit Masters, which means that person is extremely powerful, at least a spiritual-type Titled Douluo."
"Why would a Titled Douluo do something so beneath their status for no reason? So there must be a reason behind it. On the surface, it's just to tarnish the reputation of us four deans, but in reality, there is definitely a deeper meaning, a darker truth."
"But we can't find them at all!" Cai Mei'er was also getting a headache. She understood that there was definitely a conspiracy against Shrek behind this, but they felt completely helpless.
A spiritual-type Titled Douluo, wanting to hide in the shadows and cause trouble, was simply not someone Shrek Academy could dig up.
The Douluo Continent was too vast. Unless they gathered all the forces of Shrek plus the four great empires, finding that hidden spiritual-type Titled Douluo would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
But even if it was a needle in a haystack, they had to find it!
"Right now, I can only hope that the other party's next move doesn't come too quickly," Yan Shao Zhe murmured.
He had a premonition that this time it was just to slander them, but the next time, it would definitely cause internal turmoil within Shrek!
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