He could also choose to ignore Liang He’s so-called "ban" and selfishly leave the base to go back and compete. However, becoming a star of the Giant Monster League was not Chen Gu’s dream, but rather a means to earn funds for his promotion. There was no need to create drama with the agency over this.

Because of the Director-General, Chen Gu had no doubt that if he ever conflicted with Liang He, he would definitely be the one punished by the agency—this wasn’t Chen Gu’s fault, nor Aviloya’s; it was solely the fault of their original form.

Since the "root cause" was Aviloya, Chen Gu bit the bullet and sent her a message explaining the situation.

This message was over a hundred words long. Chen Gu wanted to clarify the complete context in great detail to avoid misunderstandings. In reality, a phone call would have sufficed, but Great Actor Chen was simply too timid; he didn’t have the courage to call Aviloya.

And he also guessed that Aviloya, nine times out of ten, wouldn’t pick up his call anyway.

After sending the message, there was no response, as if throwing a clay ox into the sea. Chen Gu quietly grew somewhat disgruntled. He felt he had been considerate enough, giving both Aviloya and Liang He, this pair of "monarch and minister," sufficient respect.

He shook his head. Indeed, the so-called diplomatic and non-offensive way of dealing with the world simply didn’t suit him. Tomorrow, he would compete as scheduled; they could do whatever they wished.

After all, as the first person to hold multiple professions, even if Aviloya wanted to punish him, the punishment couldn’t be too severe. Besides, he also had Marshal Bai and the Principal as two protective umbrellas.

But when evening came, Liang He unexpectedly sent a message approving his leave! 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Chen Gu guessed that Aviloya must have spoken to Liang He. His dissatisfaction lessened significantly. At least, judging from this outcome, Aviloya clearly still "bore a grudge" against him, but in professional matters, she had, at best, managed to be impartial.

「...」

Inside the base, Liang He’s room was one of the four largest and highest-ranking ones. Before him, neither Gong Shuxu nor Kang Gesi had occupied any of these four rooms.

However, when Liang He arrived, he unapologetically took one of them for himself.

Liang He’s unpopularity within the agency wasn’t just because of his bad temper; it was also due to his extreme arrogance and selfishness.

Liang He had just ended a call with Aviloya. He grudgingly approved Chen Gu’s leave request, clenching his teeth. Furious, he made a mental note of the incident.

In the message to Chen Gu, he strictly stipulated the time Chen Gu had to return to the base: within two hours after the competition ended.

This meant that right after the competition finished, Chen Gu had to immediately pack up and leave, with only two hours to rush back to the base—a very tight schedule.

If Chen Gu didn’t have the Dimensional Prison Ring, just settling the Combat Rooster would take more time than that.

The next day, Chen Gu and Liang He didn’t run into each other. Liang He was meticulously inspecting the entire base. He was also personally leading a team to conduct a dragnet search within a three-hundred-kilometer radius of the base.

Furthermore, he planned to install three thousand surveillance probes within that area to detect any suspicious individuals as early as possible.

Qing Ruyan was right; Liang He was very capable at his job.

After lunch, Chen Gu started packing his things to leave. Chu Zheng really wanted to accompany her instructor, so she went to ask Liang He for leave. But without the Director-General’s support, the girl with a slight build was ruthlessly rejected by Liang He and subjected to a harsh reprimand.

The competition that day was even more popular than the last. Fans had even started speculating on various forums and discussion boards: when would Chen Gu and the Combat Rooster suffer their first defeat?

Many fans predicted that tonight’s match between Chen Gu and Aurora would be a fifty-fifty bet. This was already a recognition of Chen Gu’s strength, unlike previous times when, upon facing a strong opponent, public opinion would overwhelmingly conclude that Chen Gu was bound to lose.

While Chen Gu was driving to the venue, a well-known commentator from the Alliance, Xiao Bu Yi, released an influential article on his online column. He had analyzed Chen Gu’s previous competitions and drawn what seemed like an "impossible" conclusion: Chen Gu’s Combat Rooster was using martial techniques in competitions!

He listed numerous comparative movements, even deducing that these martial techniques evolved from the widely propagated "Ancient Martial Great Nine Forms"!

While Chen Gu was on his way, this article went viral, and the comment section below it erupted into chaos.

To teach a Giant Monster to fight using martial arts—this had once seemed a very promising idea, and many had attempted it.

But it was later deemed a "false proposition," as the Giant Monsters simply couldn’t learn them. Even if they barely managed to, coordination issues with the players would arise.

Xiao Bu Yi’s article attracted countless criticisms: "Sensationalist!"

"Sucking up to Chen Gu for attention!"

"This crosses the line for a commentator!"

Despite Xiao Bu Yi’s arguments appearing quite reasonable, people struggled to break free from their preconceived notions, subconsciously believing it was still just a "coincidence."

In the comments section, Xiao Bu Yi replied, "The intelligence of Energy Gathering Mechanical Species was originally higher than that of biological Giant Monsters. They are unfit for Giant Monster Combat because they are more volatile and cannot coordinate with players. Since Chen Gu can make the Combat Rooster obey, why couldn’t he teach it the ’Ancient Martial Great Nine Forms’? Furthermore, Chen Gu’s ’Ancient Martial Great Nine Forms’ is clearly a modified version, perfectly suited for Giant Monsters to use."