Livestream Conflict-solver: The Whole Internet Begs Me for Justice!

27: Master, shall we run away?Zhang Ze opened his fan group again, and as expected, it was as lively as Chinese New Year.

”Brothers! I have an announcement to make! From today onwards, Brother Ze is my only male god!”

”Before, I called him Brother Ze because I thought he was flamboyant and interesting. Now, I call him Brother Ze out of genuine respect! Brother Ze is awesome (voice cracking)!”

”Did you see Principal Wang and Director Liu’s deadpan faces? Hahahaha, I screenshotted that part and made it into an emoji pack, who wants it?”

”Please! Send it quickly! I want all my classmates to see what it means for justice to descend!”

”Speaking of which, Brother Ze’s identity is too mysterious, right? Usually, he’s full of flirtatious remarks, but when it comes to serious matters, he transforms into an imperial envoy. Who can handle this kind of contrast? I’m in love! I’m in love!”

Zhang Ze looked at the joyful chat records in the group, and a smile appeared on his face.

He thought for a moment, then sent a message in the group: ”Keep it low-key, just basic operation, nothing special.”

As soon as the message was out, the group instantly exploded.

”Holy crap! Wild Brother Ze caught alive!”

”Brother Ze, look at me! I’m kowtowing to you! Thump thump thump!”

”Basic operation? You’ve mastered Versailles! I apply to award Brother Ze the title of ’King of Bragging’!”

Just as Zhang Ze was happily watching his fans praise him, his private phone suddenly rang.

Seeing the caller ID, Zhang Ze was stunned.

It was an unfamiliar landline number, showing the provincial capital as its origin.

He hesitated for a moment, then pressed the answer button.

”Hello, may I help you?”

A steady, magnetic middle-aged man’s voice came from the other end of the phone, with a hint of deliberation and inquiry in his tone.

”Hello, may I ask if this is ’Brother Pingshi’, Mr. Zhang Ze?”

”It’s me, and you are?”

”Oh, I’m Wang Jianguo, the producer of the ’Focus Tracking’ program on the provincial TV station. We saw your live broadcast this morning at City Third Middle School and the huge social repercussions it subsequently caused. Our program team is very interested in you and what you’ve done.”

Wang Jianguo paused, his tone becoming more solemn.

”Therefore, on behalf of our program team, I would like to formally invite you. We want to do an exclusive interview with you, an in-depth report about you, about your identity as ’Brother Pingshi’, and how you, by yourself, uncovered the lid on the social scourge of campus bullying.”

”I wonder if you are interested?”

Provincial TV station? Exclusive interview?

He was very familiar with the ’Focus Tracking’ program; it specialized in reporting various social hot topics and exposing industry inside stories, enjoying extremely high public trust among ordinary people.

Being on this program would be much more useful than gaining an extra million followers on Note.

”Hello, Producer Wang, I greatly admire your program. As long as it can speak out for justice and provide a window for those who need help, I am personally very willing to cooperate,” Zhang Ze said righteously, elevating his own stance in the process.

”That’s great! Mr. Zhang is indeed a man of great righteousness!” Wang Jianguo’s voice on the other end of the phone was filled with excitement. ”Then let’s set a time...”

After the two simply decided on an exclusive interview next Monday, Zhang Ze hung up the phone.

He leaned back in his seat, looking at the people leisurely strolling in the park outside the window, a wide smile spreading across his face.

”Brother Pingshi is going on TV, is this enough prestige?”

”System, I feel like I’m one step closer to becoming the light of justice!”

However, just as Zhang Ze was enjoying the fruits of victory and envisioning a bright future.

In the ”Wude Hall” in the suburbs, the atmosphere was chilling.

The ”sect leader” Lei Long and his tall, thin assistant were cowering in front of a laptop like two startled quails.

On the laptop screen, a video of Zhang Ze speaking in the auditorium of City Third Middle School was playing on a loop.

In the footage, Zhang Ze was full of righteousness and vigor, the leaders below sat upright, and the students applauded thunderously.

And in the lower right corner of the video, there was also a conspicuous watermark—[Official Account of Jianghai Province Youth Rights Protection Center].

”Gulp.”

Lei Long swallowed with difficulty.

He pointed his trembling hand at the watermark on the screen, his voice changing tone: ”Provincial... provincial-level official account... full broadcast?”

The assistant next to him was paler than paper, stammering: ”Ma... Master, I... I just checked, this Youth Rights Protection Center is... is a legitimate provincial public institution, under the provincial committee of the Communist Youth League... Investigator Zhang’s ID, it’s... it’s real!”

”Slap!”

Lei Long slapped himself across the face, with such force that it made a crisp sound.

”What the hell... what the hell did I provoke?!” Lei Long clutched his head, letting out a desperate wail.

Two days ago, he was still sitting in his grand armchair, pointing fingers and confidently believing that Zhang Ze was just a simple-minded, brawny hothead.

He had even planned the script: on Saturday, in front of a live broadcast to the entire network, he would use ’Eighteen Falls on Contact’ and ’Aerial Force’ to make Zhang Ze run in circles, and then end the fight with a phrase like, ’Young man, your kung fu is not yet perfected, you don’t understand the profoundness of our traditional martial arts,’ thereby establishing his status as a ’Grandmaster of Traditional Martial Arts’.

But now... Grandmaster my foot!

He now felt like a small-time thug who had arranged a street fight, only to find that he hadn’t arranged to fight another small-time thug, but rather a regular army commander driving a tank and leading an reinforced company!

And it was being broadcast live the whole time?!

This was clearly an attempt to kill him!

”Master, what do we do now? Saturday... are we, are we still going to spar?” the assistant asked with a tearful face.

”Spar your head!” Lei Long kicked the leg of the grand armchair, wincing in pain. ”You tell me how to spar? Should I ’stop on contact’ with him? Do I dare to touch him? Is that what you call ’sparring’? That’s called ’assaulting a police officer’! No, that’s called ’assaulting a state cadre’! That’s going to land me in jail!”

The more Lei Long thought about it, the more scared he became, pacing around the room like a headless fly.

The scene of Saturday had already appeared in his mind:

Zhang Ze, wearing that blue jacket, with the national emblem pinned to his chest, arriving at his martial arts hall with a ”Provincial Center Emergency Action Team.”

If he dared to make a move, a burly team leader like Li Feng could immediately pin him to the ground, with the charge of ”obstructing official duties.”

If he didn’t make a move and immediately conceded, then his ”Hunyuan Xingyi Tai Chi Gate” signboard would be completely ruined, and those ”disciples” and ”investors” he had fooled would tear him alive!

This was a dead end!

”Master! Master! How about... we run away tonight?” the assistant suggested a bad idea. ”We’ll go to another place, change our names, and start over!”

”Run?” Lei Long glared with bloodshot eyes. ”Now the whole internet knows my face! Where can I run to? To Mars? Besides, will my bosses and disciples let me go?”

”Then... what do we do?” The assistant was almost in tears.

Lei Long stopped, his brain working rapidly, cold sweat trickling down his temples.