Chapter 600 Yu Sheng's "Casual Act"

Seeing Yu Sheng's thoughtful yet expectant expression, Luo didn't react at first, since she had only recently joined the group and wasn't very familiar with Yu Sheng—but soon, her quick mind realized something, and her expression became somewhat subtle.

"Boss, what... do you want to do?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment: "Is it possible that you go back to work at your company—and then give me all the good stuff from your company?"

Luo was stunned, and after a long while, he finally managed to utter, "...Isn't this a bit too direct?"

“That’s the same idea, even if you put it mildly,” Yu Sheng said, his expression clearly serious, as he thought for a moment. “Don’t you think this is very feasible? From the Black Dot Group’s perspective, you just ‘disappeared’ in an experimental accident, but in reality, I took you away from your room. Nobody knows about this. After that, you were locked up in the valley and have been ‘employed’ at the hotel ever since. There are hardly any people who know the whole story from beginning to end.”

"As for Baili Qing, there's no need to mention her. Mo Ran is one of my people, and everyone working on this space station is loyal and reliable. If I had to say, the only outsiders are that 'Master Alvin' and his group of astrologists. I'm not familiar with them, but the Astrological Society and the Black Dot Group are mortal enemies. There's no way they would tip off your old employer—I'll have Mo Ran speak to them separately later to prevent any leaks..."

Luo blinked as she listened. Although she was a little surprised at first, her thoughts began to unconsciously follow Yu Sheng's lead.

She admitted that Yu Sheng's words made some sense, although there were some inaccuracies and he underestimated the capabilities of the Black Dot Group's spy network. She believed that news of her capture would eventually reach the group's board of directors in some form, but even considering that, it wasn't impossible for her to "go back."

Because the group's senior management was unlikely to believe that she would bring the entire Vanguard Labs along with her to the project—or more precisely, that Vanguard Labs itself had already become part of 'Angel Hunters'.

Those who have never dealt with Yu Sheng would find it hard to comprehend the bizarre...powers that this "Angel Hunter" possesses.

On the other hand, even if the group's senior management had doubts and wanted to conduct an investigation, Luo was very confident that he could handle the trouble.

She is no longer the innocent student who was tricked into becoming a resource back then—surviving and rising to the level of "manager" in the harsh internal environment of the Black Dot Group requires more than just luck.

Luo raised her head, her eyes fixed on Yu Sheng, and a strange light seemed to gradually ignite in her pupils, which were filled with starlight.

Yu Sheng felt a little uneasy under those eyes: "...Why are you staring at me?"

"You just want to squeeze some benefits out of the Black Dot Group?" Luo said slowly, staring at Yu Sheng. "You want to plant a 'management' level spy within the Black Dot Group... There must be more to it than that, right?"

Whether it was a misperception or not, Yu Sheng felt that this always dejected and unlucky elf was speaking with a strange... seductive and instigating tone.

She seemed to really hope that her new boss had some bigger schemes up his sleeve, some bolder "plans" for the Black Dot Group.

Yu Sheng frowned: "Do you have a grudge against your former employer?"

Luo remained noncommittal.

“I haven’t really thought that much about it,” Yu Sheng said, not noticing the other’s silence. “It’s just that I’m the kind of person who likes to do things ‘on the side.’ If I encounter an enemy, I’ll leave a mark. After a fight, I’ll take some local specialties back with me. Now that I have this opportunity, I feel like I’m missing out if I don’t plant a spy for the Black Dot Group. Although I’m not sure what you can do after I put you there, what if you really want to do something in the future?”

Luo raised his eyebrows, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, but it was unclear what he was thinking.

Yu Sheng then added, "Of course, I respect your opinion. This job is risky, laborious, and may not be rewarding. Besides, judging from your attitude, you didn't seem very happy working for your old company. So if you're not willing, then forget it..."

He had barely finished speaking when Luo suddenly broke the silence: "I really didn't like that place—it was oppressive, tense, cold, and calculating. Apart from the unrestricted research environment, Black Dot Group didn't leave me with any good memories..."

Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the next second, Luo's tone suddenly turned up, and a particularly pleasant smile appeared on his lips.

"But if you want me to go back and be a 'mole,' who knows when I might be able to do something 'big,' then I'd be happy to!"

This time it was Yu Sheng's turn to raise his eyebrows.

“Then this matter needs to be considered carefully,” he said cheerfully. “You can talk to me about the Black Dot Group when you have time. I’m getting more and more curious about this ‘extreme technology organization’.”

Luo smiled and said, "I'd be happy to."

Yu Sheng waved his hand, then changed the subject: "By the way, let me explain the fast track to you again."

"Fast Track?"

Without wasting any words, Yu Sheng led Luo directly to another stable module near the core area, a seemingly ordinary rest room.

A large door, seemingly out of place with its surroundings, is abruptly embedded in the wall of the lounge. The pale yellow door is surrounded by a grid structure that resembles blood vessels and nerves, making the entire wall look as if it had once been a living thing, but has now solidified into a hard and stable form.

Luo immediately noticed that this thing had a strange and eerie style—quite like the righteous demeanor of a hotel.

Yu Sheng stepped forward and casually pushed open the door.

Opposite the door is the "portal hall" of the pyramid hub in the valley.

Several mass-produced Eileens with black hair and red eyes were running around the hall wiping the floor. Two children who were about to go to school were carrying their schoolbags and walking towards another gate opposite. Several other cultivators with an air of otherworldly wisdom were entering the hall through the teleportation gate connecting to Thousand Peaks Spirit Mountain. Judging from their attire, they should be disciples of Beast Taming Peak, probably here to find Snake Princess.

“You can return to the valley through this door. After exiting the hall, turn left and you’ll see the road leading to Fairy Tale Town. It’s only a ten-minute walk,” Yu Sheng said, turning to Luo. “You can arrange your own work hours. You can go back from here after get off work. I’ve already instructed that the room you used to live in in town is still reserved for you, as your dormitory. Of course, you can live at Black Rock Station if you prefer. There are several habitable areas here now. However, I don’t recommend that you wander into other areas or enter unfamiliar doors.”

Luo was stunned, and only after Sheng finished speaking did she exclaim in astonishment, "I can still get off work?!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng was completely taken aback, staring at this unlucky elf with a face full of black lines: "Hey, is this how you see me?"

"Uh, that's not what I meant..." Luo quickly tried to cover up, "I just didn't expect I could go back anytime—I thought that after you dumped me here, you wouldn't let me return to the border or that valley, after all, my identity is a bit special, and..."

She hesitated for a long time before finally saying nothing more. She simply turned her head and stared blankly at the door leading to the teleportation hub, at the hall opposite the door where many red-eyed dwarves were running around—a place like a bizarre and fantastical dream, yet filled with many strange and wonderful things.

In a daze, she seemed to hear someone calling in her ear again—

"Luo, let's go to the river to catch some fish!"

Ah, that's great.

...

At the same time, on a street near the old city of Jiecheng.

A gust of cold wind blew by, swirling up the withered yellow leaves from the roadside. The chilly wind whistled into my collar and cuffs, easily dispelling my midday drowsiness and sending a shiver down my spine.

Zheng Zhi, carrying a plastic bag he had brought back from the supermarket, shivered involuntarily when the cold wind blew, and looked up at the somewhat gray sky.

"Hiss... It really is winter now..."

The weather forecast this morning said there would be light snow later today, but when I came out of the supermarket just now, the forecast changed to moderate snow overnight. But looking at this gray sky, it seems the snow won't last until tonight, and it will probably be quite heavy.

Zheng Zhi lowered his head, glanced at the things he was carrying, and gradually began to look forward to the hot pot dinner that night.

Imagine this: it's snowing lightly outside, the heating's on inside, and Li Ge and I are cooking hot pot and drinking beer by the window—what a treat that would be! We could always head to the "valley" for some fresh food, ask the kids for mushrooms, pick some vegetables from Miss Saint's garden… or maybe just eat in the valley itself? It's spring-like there all year round, though you won't see any snow, but the good thing is it's lively, maybe even a little too lively…

Zheng Zhi was lost in thought as he slowly walked through the streets of the old town.

The Boundary Bridge incident is over. Although the Special Service Bureau colleagues still have a lot of follow-up work to do, and the various spirit detective organizations and independent investigators are also busy with a large number of investigation tasks issued by the Special Service Bureau, the city has completely returned to calm on the surface. As for Zheng Zhi and Li Lin, whose main task is to keep an eye on No. 66 Wutong Road and to maintain a good relationship with Yu Sheng, the overtime and busyness have little to do with them.

To be honest, this job was a bit exciting at first, but it's quite pleasant once you get used to it.

As long as nothing goes wrong, it's fine.

Another gust of cold wind blew in from the entrance of a nearby alley, seemingly aimed straight at the neck and trying to get into the collar.

Zheng Zhi subconsciously tightened his coat and noticed that there were far fewer pedestrians on the road in the distance than before, and even the cars had become sparse—it seemed that everyone had noticed the increasingly worse weather, and perhaps it had even started snowing in other districts.

After all, this city is ridiculously large.

...How about we save up some money and buy a car?

As Zheng Zhi pondered this, he took out his phone to scan an electric scooter on the roadside to go home.

My phone has no signal.

He blinked, checked the glaring "Abnormal environment detected" message on the screen again, sighed, and looked up at the shop windows on the nearby street.

Oh wow, so grandma.

(End of this chapter)