Chapter 125: The Clash of Martial Arts and Fantasy

The next morning, the editors of the Fantasy Department arrived at the office unusually early.

Wang Ke came in at 7:40 as usual. When he saw all his colleagues sitting neatly at their desks, he was rather puzzled.

What was going on today? Why had everyone arrived so early?

He returned to his own workstation and asked the colleague beside him, who was also his close friend, “What’s with everyone today? It isn’t bonus day. Why did they all come in so early?”

It was incredibly strange.

It completely contradicted the working philosophy of ordinary wage earners.

His colleague leaned over and lowered his voice. “That file you posted in the group yesterday was the big shot’s new novel.”

“So what?” Wang Ke was baffled. Even if the big shot’s new book was amazing, there was no need for everyone to act like this. Why did they all look as though they were waiting for a great show?

Anyone could see how excited they were.

His colleague continued, “Editor Zhang Liang from the Martial Arts Department saw it.”

Wang Ke sucked in a sharp breath.

No wonder everyone had arrived earlier and more punctually than usual. They had all come to watch the spectacle.

Now that the Martial Arts Department knew about The Return of the Condor Heroes, there was no way they would let it go. They would certainly come to poach the author.

Wang Ke was puzzled. “I posted it in our internal group. How did the Martial Arts Department see it?”

He had posted the manuscript in the Fantasy Department’s internal group instead of sending it privately to a single editor for three reasons.

First, the department’s chief editor was in the group too, so he would see it there.

Second, he wanted his colleagues to read the book in advance and understand its quality. That way, when they competed with the Martial Arts Department for it later, they could present a united front.

Third, there were promotional resources to consider.

Wang Ke had planned everything carefully. Unfortunately, he had miscalculated from the very beginning. The chief editor of the Fantasy Department had not checked the group messages yesterday. Instead, he had gone on a beautiful date with the chief editor of the Urban Department.

Nor had Wang Ke’s colleagues read The Return of the Condor Heroes on their way home after work. They had started reading it right there in the office.

Who would have thought that a bunch of office workers would linger at work instead of hurrying home?

“What a disaster!”

Just then, the chief editor of the Fantasy Department, Wang Dahai, entered the room. Seeing the editors sitting in perfect formation and occasionally sneaking glances at him, he rapped his knuckles on the table.

“Not bad. You’re all here very early today. Keep it up. Don’t collapse after maintaining it for only one day!”

Chief Editor Wang had arrived.

The editors’ thoughts began to stir. They had come so early for two reasons: first, to watch the battle between the two department heads over the author; and second, to lend their own editor some moral support.

The last time the chief editor of the Immortal Heroes Department had come to the Fantasy Department to poach an author, Old Wang had argued against everyone and lost none of his momentum.

Still, nobody moved. It would be inappropriate for them to bring the matter up themselves. Only Wang Ke was suited to do so—the big shot was his author.

“Boss, there’s something I need to report.”

Wang Ke knew that he was the only suitable person to speak at a time like this. “The big shot sent me the opening chapters of his new book last night. He intends to officially begin serializing it on Baidu Reads today.”

“The big shot’s new book?”

Wang Dahai’s face lit up. Was the author really this efficient? His previous novel had ended less than three days ago, and the new one was already here.

Even the donkeys on a production team would not work this hard. This was madness!

He smiled and said, “I read the final chapters of the big shot’s Martial Universe. They were excellent. The concept of the Great Thousand World was introduced, which should help generate anticipation for the new novel.”

“Boss, the big shot’s new book isn’t set in the Great Thousand World,” Wang Ke said.

Wang Dahai was curious. “If it isn’t set in the Great Thousand World, then what is it about?”

If the new story did not take place in the Great Thousand World, then introducing that setting at the end of the previous novel would have been pointless.

“The big shot’s new book is called The Return of the Condor Heroes,” Wang Ke replied. “It’s a martial-arts novel.”

“A martial-arts novel?”

Wang Dahai’s expression froze. “You’re joking, right? Why would the big shot write martial arts?”

“It’s true,” Wang Ke said. “Before leaving yesterday, I sent the file he gave me to the group. You probably didn’t notice it.”

“Hmm…”

Wang Dahai hurried into his office, with Wang Ke following behind.

“Is the big shot’s new book really a martial-arts novel?” Wang Dahai asked once more, still unwilling to give up, before opening his computer.

Wang Ke gave him a look that said, Trust me. “Read the file first. Once you finish, everything will be clear.”

Outside, all the editors stared intently at Chief Editor Wang’s office, eagerly awaiting his reaction after reading The Return of the Condor Heroes.

“The chief editor of the Martial Arts Department should be coming soon, right?” one editor asked.

“It’s already 8:50,” another editor said after checking the time on his phone. “He’ll probably be here soon.”

“There’s still no movement from the Martial Arts Department. Zhang Liang probably didn’t report to their chief editor last night.”

“There’s going to be a fierce battle later. I’ll go over to the Martial Arts Department and scout out the enemy situation first.”

The editors waited with eager anticipation.

Inside the office, after hesitating for a moment, Wang Ke chose his words carefully. “When my colleagues were reviewing the big shot’s new manuscript yesterday, Editor Zhang Liang from the Martial Arts Department slipped in and saw The Return of the Condor Heroes.”

“What?”

Wang Dahai shot up from his computer chair. “You mean the Martial Arts Department already knows about The Return of the Condor Heroes?”

“Most likely,” Wang Ke said.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘most likely’?”

Wang Dahai shoved open the glass door of his office and charged out of the Fantasy Department’s work area with a swaggering, undignified stride.

“Did Old Wang master the Cloud Ripple Steps? Why is he running so fast?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen him run this quickly. I don’t think he even moved this fast when he was chasing the Urban Department’s chief editor last time!”

“But where did Old Wang rush off to in such a hurry?”

“Could he be going to see the editor-in-chief?”

The editors exchanged glances. That was actually very possible.

But why would he go see the editor-in-chief?

…

The Baidu Reads Literature Building, eighth floor.

An office.

After sprinting upstairs, Wang Dahai headed straight for the office of Chen Jiang, the editor-in-chief of Baidu Reads.

“What’s the matter?” Chen Jiang asked. He was reviewing some documents.

Wang Dahai braced himself against the desk and sat down, gasping for breath. After clutching his stomach for quite some time, he finally managed to speak.

“The big shot’s new book is out. I just sent it to you through Microchat. Take a look.”

“The big shot’s new book? Already?”

Chen Jiang’s heart stirred. He set down the document awaiting his signature and opened Microchat.

He had read the big shot’s Martial Universe. It was excellent, and everything was progressing smoothly, whether it was reader revenue or adaptations into film, television, and animation.

In particular, the author’s update speed was unmatched in the online-fiction world. Apart from the most celebrated writers, nobody could compete with him.

The Return of the Condor Heroes? Wasn’t it supposed to be about the Great Thousand World?

Chen Jiang had also read the ending of Martial Universe and had been very fond of the concept of the Great Thousand World.

In his view, the new book should have been named after the Great Thousand World, or at least have some connection to it—perhaps something like The Overlord.

Defying the Heavens, Evil God.

The Return of the Condor Heroes…

The title sounded far too much like a martial-arts novel.

Not good.

It lacked grandeur. It did not fit the defining character of fantasy fiction at all.

Chen Jiang opened the manuscript and began to read. But the farther he got, the more something seemed wrong.

Why was this a martial-arts novel?

“Was the wrong file sent? This is a martial-arts novel!”

“It wasn’t sent by mistake,” Wang Dahai said bitterly. “The big shot didn’t continue writing a fantasy novel about a useless young man rising to power. He switched to martial arts instead.”

Chen Jiang said nothing more. As long as the file had not been sent by mistake, that was enough.

He read slowly and carefully.

“The big shot should have been writing martial arts all along.”

Chen Jiang lifted his gaze from the computer, visibly exhilarated.

His mind was now filled with the martial world, filled with fragments of the plot from The Return of the Condor Heroes.

Wang Dahai had anticipated the editor-in-chief’s reaction. “But the big shot is a contracted author of our Fantasy Department, and the new book is contracted under one of our editors.”

Chen Jiang smiled. “What do you intend to do?”

“Have the Martial Arts Department open its promotional resources to The Return of the Condor Heroes,” Wang Dahai said.

“Aren’t you afraid Old Yu will fight you to the death?” Chen Jiang asked with a laugh.

He understood Wang Dahai’s meaning perfectly. He wanted the Martial Arts Department to provide promotional resources for The Return of the Condor Heroes, even though the book belonged to the Fantasy Department and had nothing to do with the Martial Arts Department.

This was different from the situation with a top-tier author.

The top-tier author’s new novel, Immortal Executioner, was being jointly managed by the Fantasy Department and the Immortal Heroes Department, and belonged to both departments.

This time, Wang Dahai clearly did not want to share the operation of the book with anyone else.

Wang Dahai twisted his neck. “Why should I be afraid of him?”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door of Chen Jiang’s office.

Wang Dahai’s heart sank. Damn it.

He had run so quickly precisely because he wanted to settle the matter before the chief editor of the Martial Arts Department arrived to poach the author.

But now…

It was too late.

The person who entered was Yu Qing, chief editor of the Martial Arts Department.

Wang Dahai’s tone was hostile. “The editor-in-chief is busy. Why have you come here if you have nothing to do?”

“Dahai, don’t be so hot-tempered.”

Yu Qing smiled warmly. He was in an excellent mood.

“Editor-in-chief, our Martial Arts Department isn’t greedy. We can operate The Return of the Condor Heroes together with Dahai. He has experience in this area.”

Wang Dahai turned away without saying a word. Of all the editors in Baidu Reads, Yu Qing was the person he least wanted to deal with. The man spent every day smiling pleasantly, which somehow made him seem even more unsettling.

Yu Qing continued, “Editor-in-chief, I intend to enter The Return of the Condor Heroes in the Martial Arts Championship. You know that the people on that side are determined to win this year’s competition. They’re coming at us with tremendous force.”

“Cut the crap,” Wang Dahai snapped. He could not stand listening to him play the victim.

“Ahem.”

Chen Jiang cleared his throat and said, “Dahai, Yu Qing does have a point.”