Chapter 313 - 291: Being Targeted and Expanding the Special Abilities Department

Chapter 313: Chapter 291: Being Targeted and Expanding the Special Abilities Department

Wind Manor.

After securing everyone’s loyalty with a wave of rewards and giving five Beastification Ability Crystal Stones to Lin Jiao, Lu Feng logged out of the game world.

Returning to the manor, he found Yang Qingxue had just gotten back as well. He approached her with a grin, planning to have a little ’discussion’ with her about his rod.

Meanwhile, the organizing committee for the France Skincare Day event was stunned by a particular matter.

France is an undisputed leader in the global skincare industry.

One could say that for the French people, skincare and beauty are not just a lifestyle, but an art form.

Moreover, many famous skincare brands originated in France, making it the cosmetics capital of the world.

France owes this status to its complete ecosystem for the raw materials industry. Many leading raw material suppliers are headquartered in France or have factories and offices there.

Many skincare products rely on materials supplied by France. As a result, several of the world’s top ten skincare brands are French, and the world’s largest skincare supplier is also located there.

For this reason, the International Skincare Day hosted by France is world-renowned, and countless skincare brands are eager to participate.

The catch, however, was that not just anyone could get a booth at the event. It required passing through multiple rounds of selection and obtaining the organizing committee’s approval.

The heads of the organizing committee were all members of the French nobility.

This was because the event itself originated from the love certain noblewomen had for skincare products.

Those who couldn’t secure a booth could still pay a fee to exhibit in a public area. Some products had even become sensational hits there, gaining widespread recognition.

Boris studied the booth allocation for the Skincare Day, comparing it with the review process documents, his brow furrowed slightly.

His secretary frowned beside him. "Mr. Boris, upon re-examination, we discovered that the Xuanfeng Facial Mask’s application was never processed by the review team. I’ve asked around, and no one has any recollection of it."

"More importantly, the Xuanfeng Facial Mask has no reputation whatsoever. It doesn’t meet the requirements at all and shouldn’t have been assigned one of the best booths."

"But we’ve investigated, and all the procedural and review documents are in perfect order. It’s too strange."

Boris was one of the heads of this organizing committee.

After his comparison, he naturally saw the problem.

The crucial point was that the records showed no issues. There was only one possibility: someone on the inside had specifically arranged it.

The only ones who could bypass him were the other heads, people of his own rank.

After all, he had arranged such things himself.

Among the top ten brands, there was a company that had once been on the brink of collapse but made a comeback with a toning water—and he had been the one to arrange it.

Therefore, others would turn a blind eye to such matters.

Everyone did it at some point, after all.

Unless there was a mortal feud, no one would sabotage another’s arrangements.

Otherwise, if they started sabotaging each other, the whole platform would collapse, and it would be their own collective interests that suffered.

After all, for every International Skincare Day, the admission fees and the payments from exhibiting companies worldwide were a huge sum, not to mention the fees for various display advertisements.

"The Xuanfeng Facial Mask is from the Xuanfeng Alliance, right?" Boris said to his secretary while looking at the documents. "Let’s leave this matter be. After all, we’re about to announce the booth assignments, and it’s too late to make changes."

’The Xuanfeng Alliance has Xuanfeng Bank. One of the other heads must have business with Xuanfeng Bank, which is why they gave the Xuanfeng Facial Mask one of the best booths.’

Thinking of Xuanfeng Bank, he considered withdrawing a sum of his money from Rui Shi Bank and transferring it over.

’But that damned Rui Shi Bank still hasn’t fixed its banking system.’

’I really don’t understand what they’re doing.’

What Boris didn’t know was that at this very moment, the other heads of the organizing committee were also being briefed on this matter by their own secretaries.

And their thoughts were identical to his; they all assumed one of the others had arranged it, so they all tacitly agreed not to expose it.

The secretaries weren’t stupid. Hearing this, they pretty much understood what was going on.

Not long after, at the headquarters of Ouya, the world’s number one skincare company, one of its vice presidents, Rost, received a phone call.

"The booth for the Xuanfeng Facial Mask is legitimate. We can’t help you change it."

"Damn it!" Rost slammed down the phone and cursed.

Ouya was the world’s number one skincare brand, so it naturally had one of the best booths at such an event. Moreover, the Ouya Company had the standing to speak with any of the committee heads.

But the problem was, he, Rost, did not.

He had actually founded a skincare brand in secret with a friend. They already had their own product, and its effects were no worse than Ouya’s.

He just couldn’t reveal his involvement, so the shares were registered under his son’s name.

This time, he had planned to pull some strings to get the booth next to Ouya. Then, with a bit of maneuvering, he could have his and his friend’s company ride the coattails of the Ouya Company.

He could then use the opportunity to make his and his friend’s company’s product take off.

This was a common business tactic.

But who would have thought that the Xuanfeng Facial Mask would swoop in and snatch the booth next to Ouya?

Besides, this Xuanfeng Facial Mask was completely unknown. ’On what grounds?’

He couldn’t use Ouya’s name to pull strings, so now he could only watch as the Xuanfeng Alliance occupied the booth that should have belonged to his product.

’It’s so infuriating. My whole plan has been ruined by this trash product.’

’This Xuanfeng Facial Mask must have the same idea, wanting to ride Ouya’s coattails.’

After all, it was the world’s number one brand, just like a third-rate celebrity trying to get attention by associating with a superstar.

Just getting caught in the same camera shot as a superstar could instantly generate a huge amount of traffic.

"Unfortunately, this Xuanfeng Facial Mask has picked the wrong person to mess with," Rost said coldly. After all, he was a vice president at Ouya, and he was in charge of this exhibition.

Since they chose the spot next to Ouya, he would make sure that not only would they fail to leech off its fame, but they would also be utterly humiliated.

’When their product is ruined, we’ll see if they regret messing up my plan.’

The Xuanfeng Alliance, of course, had no idea that its facial mask had already been hated and targeted by someone before it had even set off for France.

Wind Manor.

Baguda arrived early in the morning with Liao Liyan, Zhou Ling, Lin Yao, and the other young women managing the mask company to meet with Lu Feng.

"Governor, the International Skincare Day is approaching. We should prepare to head to France, so you should also take a look at the facial mask’s outer packaging and related documents," Baguda reported to Lu Feng as soon as he entered, handing him several packaged masks and some files.

Lu Feng took the masks. The packaging was a solid blue, a clear continuation of the style of the Xuanfeng Wind Dream-Returning Wine.

’The packaging design is quite nice, though.’

Next were the documents, which concerned matters such as employee recruitment, production line output, and pricing.

While Lu Feng was looking through the documents, Liao Liyan immediately began her presentation. "Governor, we determined the market prices for these masks after thorough research."

"For other masks on the market, the normal price is about 5 to 10 Dragon Country coins per piece, with more expensive ones at 20 to 30 Dragon Country coins. Even pricier ones start at 50 Dragon Country coins per piece and go up from there."

"Of course, those are just for standard-grade masks. There are also more expensive ones that cost several hundred coins per piece, at the luxury ’madam’ level."

"By diluting the essence, we’ve divided our masks into Normal, Premium, and Collector’s editions! The Normal version is for the general public, the Premium version is for the financially independent class, and the Collector’s edition is naturally for the luxury madam level."

"The Normal version is diluted 20 times, but its effects are still several times better than other masks on the market."

"Moreover, we’ve done the calculations. If we launch it at a standard mask price, say 30 Dragon Country coins per piece, we can still make a huge profit. With such noticeable effects, we can easily capture the market."

"The Premium version is diluted ten times. I plan to price it at double the cost of imported products, 100 Dragon Country coins per piece, to target women who are financially well-off."

"Finally, there’s the undiluted Collector’s edition at 1,000 Dragon Country coins per piece. This is specifically to target the luxury market. When those wealthy women see the price tag, they’ll be more than willing to pay up."

Zhou Ling also added, "Governor, if you think there are any issues, we can make adjustments."

Their way of addressing Lu Feng had already changed.

After a brief period of indecision, they had made a decisive choice: to change their nationality, join the Xuanfeng Alliance, and directly enter the system as employees of a Xuanfeng Alliance state-owned enterprise.

They believed this was an absolute once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the kind you would regret missing for the rest of your life.

’Anyone presented with such an opportunity would know what choice to make.’

Lu Feng wasn’t an expert in these matters, so he said, "Since you reached these conclusions after your research, just proceed with this plan. Also, prepare for the trip to France. I’ll be going as well this time."

’After all, my girlfriend, Yang Qingxue, is in charge of the mask company, so she definitely has to attend this kind of exhibition.’

’So, I’ll just go to accompany my girlfriend.’

"Yes, Governor!"

The two women nodded in unison.

After Baguda left with them, Lu Feng made a call and summoned Yang Ming.

"Xiaofeng, what are your orders?" Yang Ming asked as soon as he arrived.

Lu Feng smiled and said, "The mask company is heading to the exhibition in France. When the time comes, bring two people and go with me."

"Mm," Yang Ming nodded. He understood his cousin’s meaning: bring two ability users.

Thinking of the Beastification Ability Crystal Stones in his inventory, Lu Feng suddenly asked Yang Ming, "Cousin, have you selected anyone recently who could join the special department?"

He had obtained quite a few Beastification Ability Crystal Stones this time. These stones all had side effects, which weren’t a problem in the game world.

Although they were somewhat ill-suited for the real world, they weren’t completely unusable.

Take the Ability Crystal Stone (Hyena), for example.

Although this item granted a weak ability with low potential, if a loyal subordinate used it, that subordinate would become completely incapable of betrayal.

’Isn’t that exactly what I need?’

In the real world, no matter how low the potential or how weak the ability, the Hyena ability was still useful.

Therefore, he could definitely expand the numbers of his special ability department.

After all, including his cousin, the special ability department currently had only seven members.

’It’s never a bad thing to have more of this kind of special power.’