The Helmet Became a Hit

It would be impossible for Wan Qiuyue to take off her clothes without any deliberate intent. She simply wanted to see Ding Shuang’s reaction. The feedback she received greatly satisfied Wan Qiuyue; Ding Shuang’s eyes were practically glued to her!

Ding Shuang was a man of experience, and wouldn’t have fared so poorly in the secondary world. However, he valued the real world immensely, treating the secondary world more as a playful place. Upon returning to the real world, Ding Shuang would immediately switch identities and mindsets, reverting to his original self.

Moreover, Ding Shuang had never seen a woman with a figure like Wan Qiuyue before. Even in the Dou Qi Continent, where cultivation was prevalent, women typically had slender arms and legs, and smooth abdomens without an ounce of fat or muscle. Wan Qiuyue’s muscles were very well-proportioned, not the bulky, muscular type like Li Gou Dan. In addition, her abs were very defined, giving her an overall powerful and beautiful appearance.

Wan Qiuyue chuckled and teased Ding Shuang, “Hehe, I don’t believe nothing happened between you and my sister. Why do you act like it’s your first time seeing a woman?”

Ding Shuang blushed and retorted, “Do you really think it’s shameful for a woman to take off her clothes in front of a man?”

Wan Qiuyue burst out laughing, “Hahaha, I didn’t expect you to be such a traditional man. Hahahaha…”

Ding Shuang was helpless. How deep was Wan Qiuyue’s misunderstanding of her? Just as Ding Shuang was feeling awkward and at a loss, a soldier appeared and saved her from her predicament. The soldier, carrying an iron box, saluted Wan Qiuyue and said, “Major, the supplies from South Korea have arrived. Please go to the isolation room to open the box.”

Ding Shuang saw the soldiers looking at Wan Qiuyue with a sense of normalcy. He didn’t know if it was because of the strict discipline of the army or because Wan Qiuyue was always like this. Ding Shuang could only see respect in the soldiers’ eyes, without a trace of desire.

Wan Qiuyue nodded and said, “Okay, take Mr. Wei to take a shower first, prepare a set of dry clothes, and then take him to the isolation room. I’ll go take a shower too, and then go directly to the isolation room.” After giving the instructions, Wan Qiuyue left.

The soldier led Ding Shuang to the public bathhouse, which was right next to the women’s bathhouse. Ding Shuang didn’t plan to use his X-ray vision to spy on Wan Qiuyue; after all, he had already shamelessly seen her at the bar. There was no point in looking now, and besides, he didn’t even know if Wan Qiuyue was showering on the other side. Thinking this, Ding Shuang activated his X-ray vision. How could he know if anyone was on the other side without taking a look? Hmm, sure enough, no one was there.

Disappointed, Ding Shuang finished washing and changing her clothes, and followed a soldier into a basement. Wan Qiuyue hadn’t arrived yet. After a while, Wan Qiuyue, dressed in military uniform, came to the isolation room. Wan Qiuyue gestured for the soldier to open the box, and the soldier placed the box on the table and opened it. Inside was a bottle of ointment, a mobile phone, and a sheet of A4 paper.

Ding Shuang first picked up the ointment and the A4 paper and began to examine them. The ointment was packaged in an ordinary glass bottle, and the A4 paper contained instructions for use. It instructed Ding Shuang to apply the ointment to the wound after the surgery, and stated that recovery would take about a week. Ding Shuang opened the ointment and smelled it. As a master alchemist, he instantly analyzed the ointment’s ingredients and effects. It was indeed a medicine that could quickly help people recover, and it wouldn’t take a week; recovery would occur in three days at most.

After examining the ointment, Ding Shuang picked up her phone and said, “Major Wan, you just sent it back to China like that? Aren’t you worried about GPS trackers inside?”

Wan Qiuyue smiled and said, “Don’t worry, the technical team in South Korea has already analyzed this phone. The GPS only turns on the first connection, and the box also serves as an insulator. The doctor probably doesn’t know when you’ll take the box out, so if he can’t answer his call, it means you haven’t taken it out yet.”

Ding Shuang nodded, took out a smart communication device from his pocket, and conjured a data cable from it. After connecting the two phones, Ding Shuang only needed to wait for the code to be deciphered. The deciphering was very fast, almost instantaneous. To avoid arousing Wan Qiuyue’s suspicion, Ding Shuang pretended to wait.

While waiting, Ding Shuang said to Wan Qiuyue, “Major Wan, don’t worry, my friend’s skills are excellent. This phone was modified by him; it has strong decryption capabilities. I believe you’ve tried to locate me via phone, didn’t you find that I was in South Korea?”

Wan Qiuyue nodded and said, “Yes, if customs hadn’t been unable to find your entry and exit records, we would have really thought you were in South Korea. By the way, could you introduce your friend to us? We’d like to collaborate with him.”

“Heh, my friend here hates government officials the most. Let’s not talk about this anymore.” Ding Shuang was internally screaming, “Holy crap! Where the hell am I supposed to find a friend like this? The only one I could find is this phone in front of you.”

Wan Qiuyue nodded. Super hackers like this really don’t like dealing with government people, so she didn’t insist anymore.

Ding Shuang remembered something and asked, “There are a few more things. First, how do you respond to what we said before about taking down Brother Wen’s Group? Second, why did you arrest the Doctor? His activities are basically not within the country. Third, is it possible that the Doctor is in the country?”

Ding Shuang learned from Wan Xialiu that the PhD student’s main activities were currently in Europe and America. Previously, the PhD student’s main social circle was in Asia, but after committing some offense, almost his entire Asian network was wiped out. Especially domestically, only a few scattered remnants remained.

It was an extremely coincidental thing that the doctor took a liking to Ding Fei. Ding Shuang had also wondered if any of Han Rongbing’s relatives were doctors, but in order to avoid exposing himself, he did not investigate Han Rongbing’s family background.

From casual conversations, Ding Shuang sensed that Han Rongbing’s parents were just ordinary wealthy people, provided Han Rongbing wasn’t deceiving her. Ding Shuang planned to investigate Han Rongbing’s parents and relatives during the summer vacation to see if any of them held doctoral degrees.

Wan Qiuyue pondered for a while before answering Ding Shuang, “Why we arrested the doctor is top secret and cannot be leaked. Regarding the ‘Lai Yifa’ incident, the organization agreed to teach them a lesson after arresting the doctor, since ‘Lai Yifa’ was also a lead for us. Finally, the doctor is absolutely not in the country; that’s beyond doubt.”

Ding Shuang frowned and asked, “Do you already know about the doctor’s identity? Why are you so sure?”

Wan Qiuyue shook her head helplessly and said, “We haven’t been able to identify the doctor, but according to the information sent back by the intelligence department, the doctor has been active overseas.”

“I have a personal question I’d like to ask you, is it convenient?” Ding Shuang said, glancing at the soldier beside her.

Wan Qiuyue waved for the soldiers to leave and asked, “What’s the problem?”

Ding Shuang asked with a serious expression, “Are you a cultivator? What sect do you belong to?”

Wan Qiuyue said expressionlessly, “It seems you don’t know. I’m sorry, but according to the rules, I can’t tell you this.”

Ding Shuang was not helpless despite Wan Qiuyue’s rejection. Instead, she immediately called out to the system in her mind, “System, system! I found evidence that she is a cultivator! Wan Qiuyue did not deny that she is a cultivator just now.”

The system replied, “Host, not denying it doesn’t mean admitting it. You haven’t found conclusive evidence to prove that the cultivators exist.”

Ding Shuang said somewhat angrily, “System, what kind of evidence do you want? Does it have to be Wan Qiuyue’s own confession? How about I just control her and make her confess?”

The system replied, “Host, your method is feasible.” Then it assigned Ding Shuang a task.

Upon hearing the quest notification sound, Ding Shuang immediately shouted in her mind, “Stop! Stop! I was just saying! Don’t give me a quest! Cancel the quest! Cancel the quest!”

The system said, “Host, once a mission is issued, it can never be revoked!”

After so long, Ding Shuang already knew the nature of this system. What else could this task be? It must be to make him control Wan Qiuyue, and sure enough, it was exactly as Ding Shuang expected.

“Mission issued: Control Wan Qiuyue within three months in the present world. Reward: Super Lottery Draw x1. Failure: Annihilation!”

This task was simple and brutal! There weren’t even any optional tasks, and failure meant instant death! Ding Shuang was incredibly frustrated. This was the real world, not a secondary world; he couldn’t risk tarnishing the other person’s reputation. But if he didn’t complete this damned task, he could only live for three months in the real world at most. Wasn’t this forcing him to hide in a secondary world and never come out? If he could take Ding Fei and Han Rongbing with him into the secondary world, that would be great, but he had already asked the system; it couldn’t transport people across worlds!

Suddenly, Ding Shuang remembered that his Desire Emperor’s Heart Manual had reached the eleventh level. He no longer needed internal ejaculation to control the Primordial Desire Fire; oral sex would work too. He decided to find an opportunity to give Wan Qiuyue oral sex! However, considering Wan Qiuyue’s level, Ding Shuang lacked confidence in winning her over.

Wan Qiuyue looked at Ding Shuang, who seemed to be deep in thought, his expression constantly changing, and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Wan Qiuyue was unaware that Ding Shuang was planning to perform oral sex on her; instead, she assumed Ding Shuang possessed something she didn’t know. If Wan Qiuyue were to discover Ding Shuang’s filthy thoughts, she would most likely kill him with a single sword strike.

“Oh, how do you want to… Control your emotions and tone so the Doctor doesn’t notice anything amiss.” Caught off guard by Wan Qiuyue’s sudden question, Ding Shuang almost blurted out the truth: “I’m thinking about how to give you a blowjob.” Fortunately, he reacted quickly and corrected himself in time.

Wan Qiuyue nodded and said, “We overlooked that too, since there’s no one actually performing the surgery. You’ll have to improvise when the time comes.”

Before noon, Wan Qiuyue really wouldn’t want to lose Wan Xialiu as bait, but after sparring with Ding Shuang in the afternoon, her thoughts changed. If Ding Shuang were exposed, the best way would be for her to join her team and deal with the Doctor together.

Wan Qiuyue estimated Ding Shuang’s strength to be comparable to her own, and since Ding Shuang had no sect affiliation, she was the best person to win over. Of course, she wouldn’t actively expose Ding Shuang.

Ding Shuang nodded, banishing the thought of verbally assaulting Wan Qiuyue from his mind. This couldn’t be rushed; he’d have to wait and see. Anyway, today was definitely not a good opportunity, and he was about to return to the Dou Qi Continent. Next time he came out, he’d bring a powerful sleeping potion and do something filthy.

During the conversation, Ding Shuang pretended to have finished deciphering the code. She picked up her own phone, put the phone the doctor had given her back in the box, and locked it again. Ding Shuang and Wan Qiuyue then left the isolation room together.

When it was time for lunch, Wan Qiuyue led Ding Shuang toward the cafeteria. Halfway there, Ding Shuang’s phone rang. Picking up the phone, Ding Shuang glanced at Wan Qiuyue and said, “It should be a call from the professor.”

Wan Qiuyue nodded and said, “Take the call. No need for speakerphone, I can hear you.”

Ding Shuang had no doubt about Wan Qiuyue’s hearing. She answered the phone, feigning extreme weakness and covering her mouth with a cloth. “Hello, who is this?”

A female voice came from the other end, “The doctor asked me to contact you to ask if you’ve used the medicine he gave you.”

Ding Shuang said, “The doctor applied it to me. Now it feels very itchy, and I’m trying my best to control myself from scratching it.”

The female voice on the other end said, “It’s right not to scratch. If you really can’t resist, you can ask the nurse to tie your hands; that will help you recover. Also, please keep this phone accessible at all times. We’ll contact you again once you’ve recovered.”

Ding Shuang asked, “Excuse me, what is your name? And approximately how long will it take to recover?”

The woman’s voice on the other end said, “You can just call me Sakura. You’ll be fully recovered when the itching stops. Remember, don’t scratch during this time! Okay, I’ve told you everything I needed to. We might meet again sometime.” After saying that, the woman named Sakura immediately hung up the phone.

Ding Shuang turned to Wan Qiuyue and asked, “Who is Ying?”

Wan Qiuyue replied, “Sakura is the Doctor’s seventh treasure, mainly responsible for communicating with important figures outside. It seems the Doctor values ​​you highly. By the way, how did you know that the medicine would cause itching after application?”

Ding Shuang smiled slightly, feigning profundity by not answering, but inwardly he thought disdainfully, “Bullshit! Who am I? A master alchemist! I can tell what’s wrong with such a simple, low-grade healing medicine just by smelling it!”

Seeing that Ding Shuang didn’t answer, Wan Qiuyue didn’t press the matter. Ever since sparring with Ding Shuang, Wan Qiuyue had completely treated Ding Shuang as someone on her level. Besides, everyone has their own secrets, and she didn’t want to dig too deep.

After dinner, Wan Qiuyue saw Ding Shuang off. They had agreed that he would return as soon as he answered the phone. Ding Shuang had already spoken with the doctor’s people before dinner and hadn’t been exposed. It wouldn’t be good to keep Ding Shuang in the military camp. In the end, Wan Qiuyue took Ding Shuang to the place where she had picked him up in the morning and then drove away.

Back in her rented room, Ding Shuang began to think. If the PhD student couldn’t possibly be in China, then Han Rongbing’s parents and relatives were out of the question. After all, Han Rongbing’s parents had brought her to university the first time, and she’d heard they were coming to pick her up again this summer. Her other relatives were all in China, working for Han Rongbing’s parents’ company. That line of communication with Han Rongbing’s family was broken, and besides, she was under mental control; directly questioning her wouldn’t get any information, and she might even lose Han Rongbing prematurely.

Ding Shuang’s agitation affected Ding Shuang, making it impossible for her to concentrate on her cultivation. Ding Shuang said, “Why don’t you go out for a walk? Staying in the house all day will arouse suspicion.”

Ding Shuang shook his head. Staying home for a day wouldn’t arouse suspicion, and besides, who would be watching a nobody like him all the time? He forced himself to calm down and entered a cultivation state with Ding Shuang. Perhaps due to system limitations, Ding Shuang couldn’t actively improve his Qi Sea, so he could only hone his sword heart. After sparring with Wan Qiuyue in the afternoon, his sword heart returned to a clear state, and Ding Shuang consolidated his current realm.

The next morning, Ding Shuang was jolted out of his cultivation state by a phone call. Seeing that the caller was Qu Fenyan, he answered and heard a hurried voice on the other end, “Brother Ding, Brother Ding! It’s hot! The helmet is hot! So many people are contacting me wanting to try it on!”

Ding Shuang had no doubt about the helmet’s backfire, but she hadn’t expected it to become so popular so quickly! Didn’t anyone think Qu Fenyan was acting? Ding Shuang asked curiously, “How did you promote it?”

Hearing Ding Shuang’s question, Qu Fenyan replied with a hint of regret, “Ah? Brother Ding, you didn’t watch my live stream yesterday? That was my first time showing my face!”

Ding Shuang doesn’t usually watch live streams, and she only knew Qu Fenyan through games; she’d never even visited Qu’s live stream. Ding Shuang said somewhat awkwardly, “Sigh, I was too busy yesterday and didn’t have time to watch. But I trust you completely. Tell me about it.”

Qu Fenyan said excitedly, “After I showed my face yesterday, the number of viewers in the live stream doubled! I first introduced your helmet, and at first, no one believed me and thought I was bragging. How could I be bragging? I tried it out the day before yesterday after I got the helmet, and I almost played with it all night.”

Ding Shuang laughed heartily, “Haha, normally no one would believe that. How did you manage to convince everyone?”

Qu Fenyan said, “Well, not everyone disbelieves it. There was a rich guy in the live stream who believed it completely, even saying he also had a helmet that looked exactly like the one in the online novel. Everyone thought he was a shill I hired for malicious hype. By the way, do you know this rich guy?”

Ding Shuang thought for a moment. It was either Wan Xialiu or Xiao Ma, but Xiao Ma was more likely. Ding Shuang replied, “Yes, I know him. I gave him the helmet too. It’s impossible for just the two of you to convince everyone, right?”

Qu Fenyan laughed and said, “Hehe, of course not. The comments were almost cursing us to death, and it even alerted the moderators, who almost banned my live stream. Luckily, I stopped paying attention to the comments and just put on the helmet and started playing games. I have to say, your helmet is really good. It can be connected directly to the computer for live streaming. I just lay on the chair with the camera on and played with the helmet on.”

Ding Shuang said, “That’s not enough to prove anything, is it? You could say you were a substitute player, just acting.”

Qu Fenyan said, “I don’t know about that. Once the game starts, the chat becomes invisible. I suggest you find a way to link it with the live streaming system so that the streamer can see the chat while playing the game.”

Ding Shuang nodded and said, “Hmm, that’s a good suggestion. I can tell my friend to add this feature. By the way, regarding the issue of ‘less misconduct,’ we haven’t yet discussed how to make everyone believe you.”

Qu Fenyan on the other end of the phone stuck out her tongue and said, “Hehe, Brother Ding. Nobody believed me, but Blizzard officially confirmed the helmet is real, and they even posted about it on their website. They said a collaboration model will be available in three months, sold in China through your friend’s company’s official website. They even posted the URL. No wonder the helmet only has Blizzard games on it right now; it turns out they’re collaborating with Blizzard! I checked the website; you lied to me before, saying it was 100,000 yuan a helmet? It’s clearly 200,000!”

Ding Shuang laughed and said, “Don’t talk nonsense, where would you need 200,000? It only needs 168,888 yuan!”

Qu Fenyan sighed, “Sigh, no matter how much money it costs, I can’t afford it. By the way, Brother Ding, I’ll send the helmet back to you. I wasn’t much of a help this time.”

Ding Shuang said, “No need, no need, I already gave you the helmet. But I still need your help. You said a lot of people called wanting to try out the helmet?”

Qu Fenyan said, “Yes, Brother Ding, my phone has been ringing off the hook since last night, but I was able to sleep and didn’t answer. Many people are still calling today. I don’t know where they got my number? It must be the live streaming platform that leaked it! If I had evidence, I would have sued the platform. I tried calling you several times, but the call didn’t go through.”

Ding Shuang said, “I suggest you change your phone number. Don’t disconnect this one; just turn it off when you’re not using it. Tell those people who contacted you wanting to try out the helmet to contact my friend’s company. I’ll give you a phone number in a bit; just give it to them.”

Qu Fenyan exclaimed, “Okay, Brother Ding, I’m going to change my number. I’ll send you a message on WeChat once I have a new number. But I still think I should send the helmet back to you.”

Ding Shuang laughed and said, “Haha, really, no need. This helmet was originally for promotional purposes. If it weren’t for the buzz you generated in your livestream, Blizzard wouldn’t have gotten involved, and the helmet wouldn’t have become so popular so quickly! Don’t send it back to me. I’ll come find you in a while, and you can treat me to hot pot.”

“Okay, Brother Ding, you have to come! I’ll take you to the best hot pot restaurant in Chongqing, we can eat there every day.” Qu Fenyan was excited when she heard Ding Shuang say he was coming to see her.

Ding Shuang said, “Okay, I’m planning to take my younger sister on a trip this year. How about we come visit you when she starts summer vacation?”

Qu Fenyan said, “Welcome, welcome! Don’t lie to me! By the way, Brother Ding, call me before you come!”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I definitely won’t lie to you. It’ll be either July or August, I’ll definitely be there.” Ding Fei wanted to go to Qinghai during the summer vacation, so she decided to take the Sichuan-Tibet Highway. Before going, she could go to Chongqing to find Qu Fenyan.

“Okay, okay, I’ll talk to you later, Brother Ding. My phone keeps vibrating. You have to come.” Qu Fenyan hung up the phone after saying that.

The helmet is a hit; it turns out Blizzard themselves are involved, no wonder it’s become so popular so quickly. Ding Shuang had the management AI call a Blizzard executive to discuss helmet promotion.

Blizzard already has a promotional plan in place. Their main promotion will be overseas, with a roadshow in China where attendees can experience the product for free. They’re currently planning to start in four cities, and the number of people making reservations almost crashed Blizzard’s official website.

Ding Shuang also modified the official website through the Mystery Shop, opening a pre-sale channel. A deposit of 20,000 yuan is required. When the goods are in stock, emails will be sent in the order of deposit payments to remind customers to pay the remaining balance. Shipments will be made according to the order of final payments. The deadline for final payment is 24 hours; if payment is not made within this timeframe, the order will be postponed. The deposit is refundable at any time.

Ding Shuang thought for a moment and decided not to convert the deposit into travel points. After all, the raw materials for the helmets needed to be purchased with money, so the deposit would be used entirely for helmet production. When sales began, she would have the AI ​​calculate that, while ensuring the company’s operation, most of the profits would be converted into travel points.

After pre-orders opened, millions of yuan flowed in instantly, and the number continued to grow. Ding Shuang, marveling at the abundance of wealthy people, instructed the management AI to recruit employees and procure raw materials for the helmets. He still owed Blizzard 50 helmets, which would be shipped domestically after delivery.

We’ll have to wait for Blizzard designers to provide the design drafts for the collaboration.