Chapter Fifty-One: An Unexpected Discovery

The next morning, Gu Zhongyan dressed carefully and set out to report to the Doom Group.

However, his destination was not the group’s headquarters. As a conglomerate valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, Doom Group’s organizational structure was naturally immense. Aside from headquarters, it boasted several branch offices. High school interns like Gu Zhongyan, who were merely there for social practice, had no chance of entering the headquarters; all they could do was choose a nearby branch.

Fortunately, Gu Zhongyan wasn’t bothered by this. Even if he went to headquarters, as an intern, it was impossible for him to interact with Doctor Doom himself. For him, any location would be equally uneventful.

Much like his previous experience at the Central District financial firm, his first day began with someone guiding him through the company’s operations, explaining dry financial concepts. As he half-heartedly listened to the man—whose name he couldn’t recall, whether it was David or Damon—Gu Zhongyan couldn’t help but notice the company’s unusually attractive employees.

In this modest branch, at least thirty percent were striking men and women, and their demeanor was nothing like the stiff formality of typical office workers. If he hadn’t been sure he was in the right place, he would have believed this was an entertainment or modeling agency.

Did this company recruit based on looks?

Lost in his musings, Gu Zhongyan was suddenly drawn in by a voice as sharp and alluring as a hook.

“Well, well, what do we have here? Such a handsome young man—seems today is my lucky day.”

Startled, he looked toward the source of the voice and was immediately greeted by a pair of dazzlingly long legs.

Slender and at least forty inches in length, one leg crossed before the other, clad in a black, skin-tight skirt that stopped daringly high—like a shadowy ravine that blocked the eyes of those who wished to explore further.

Following that ravine upward, he saw a fitted black blazer, tailored to hug every curve of her form. The half-open neckline revealed a tantalizing hint of pale skin—like two white rabbits darting across a field, one rising as the other fell, irresistibly eye-catching.

Gu Zhongyan’s eyes lit up. Since his arrival in this world, he had never seen a woman of such caliber.

With golden hair, sapphire eyes, and lips as red as flame, her tall, shapely figure was draped in an austere black suit. Around her ivory neck, a simple yet striking black ribbon lent even more allure to her presence.

In terms of beauty, only Jessica Jones, since Gu Zhongyan’s arrival in the Marvel universe, could compare—though the woman before him clearly surpassed her in charisma.

The sharp staccato of high heels echoed through the air, each step falling with rhythmic precision, like drumbeats striking Gu Zhongyan’s heart.

The blonde strode forward, her hair gleaming, eyes heavy with seduction—her gaze tugging at Gu Zhongyan as if hooked.

She stopped before him, extended her slender fingers, and pressed them against his firm chest, trailing down with a jolt of electricity.

Her nails, crimson as fire, were tipped with tiny rhinestones, making the red seem all the more vibrant—like embers dancing on his chest.

Staring at the fingertips lingering upon him, Gu Zhongyan was momentarily stunned.

In three lifetimes, he had never experienced anything like this.

Was this seduction? Was this woman fishing for him?

He wasn’t being vain—the hunger in her eyes was so blatant, it was as if a starving person had stumbled upon a grand feast, ready to devour him whole.

Faced with temptation of such magnitude, claiming indifference would be a lie. Yet, Gu Zhongyan still considered himself, despite having crossed into this decadent, capitalist world, a stalwart successor to socialist ideals. How could he so easily fall for the enemy’s sugar-coated bullets?

Or perhaps, he could take the sugar and leave the bullet behind?

As he hesitated, wondering whether to respond, the man guiding him—David or Damon, he still wasn’t sure—stepped in.

With a swift move, he intervened between Gu Zhongyan and the blonde, blocking her smoldering gaze and speaking in a warning tone.

“Lilith, don’t mess around. Sean is a high school student here for social practice, not some plaything you picked up at a nightclub. Besides, he’s Father Langdon’s adopted son.”

At the mention of “Father Langdon,” the heat in Lilith’s eyes vanished instantly. She cast a look of regret at Gu Zhongyan.

“What a pity. I should have known heaven wouldn’t favor me so much. Just when a charming little cutie appears, he turns out to be from a church family. Never mind, I’ll find my fun at a bar instead.”

With that, she turned and left without the slightest reluctance.

Watching Lilith’s swaying figure disappear around the corner, Gu Zhongyan finally withdrew his gaze.

“All right, that’s enough. That’s not a woman you can conquer. You’re here to intern, not to chase women. Come on, there’s still some business I need to brief you on,” said the man—David or Damon, he really couldn’t recall.

Gu Zhongyan only smiled in response and said nothing, though he couldn’t help but glance in the direction Lilith had left.

It wasn’t desire that made him look back—it was the strange reaction both Lilith and the man had shown at the mention of Father Langdon.

Both had tensed instinctively at the priest’s name.

Especially Lilith, who, upon learning he was Father Langdon’s adopted son, had shown a flash of dread in her eyes. That was hardly normal.

Father Langdon was just an ordinary priest. True, the church gave him some standing in society, but overall he was a regular man, and one with a positive reputation at that.

Why would such a man inspire fear in these two? Why would Lilith, who a moment ago was practically salivating over him, now avoid him as if he were plague?

Such a dramatic shift was not the reaction of a wanton woman merely seeking to avoid the complications of a church family.

No—the fear he glimpsed was something deeper, more primal, like the instinctual recoil from a natural enemy. It was a defensive response at the level of survival.

And it seemed to Gu Zhongyan that it was not Father Langdon the man they feared, but what he represented—the priesthood, the church itself.

Now this was interesting. Why would ordinary people be so wary of the church, to the point of outright avoidance?

Or perhaps—they weren’t ordinary people at all?

With that thought, a playful smile curled across Gu Zhongyan’s lips.

It seemed that even if he wasn’t at Doom Group’s headquarters, even if he never met the future Doctor Doom himself, his days here were bound to be anything but dull.