Li Yuheng savored the sudden pallor of his face, then slowly continued to apply pressure: "At best, you'll be confined and have your resource rations reduced; at worst... tsk tsk, a major demerit, demotion, or even being directly discharged from the Third War Zone and sent to some godforsaken place. Then, forget about laughing at others..."
"What...what do you want?!" Buck's voice was completely hoarse, filled with fear and despair.
He cannot leave here; if he leaves, he will truly have nothing left!
"What do I want?" Li Yuheng's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling pressure. "It's simple. First, keep your mouth shut. From now on, I don't want to hear a single unpleasant word about Sentinel Shubai or me. Otherwise..."
He waved the noise monitor in his hand, then glanced meaningfully at Buck's hidden pocket.
Buck nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice: "I-I know! I'll never do it again! Absolutely not!"
“Second,” Li Yuheng’s voice lowered further, carrying a chilling malice, “I remember… your spiritual form is a hyena?”
Buck didn't understand, but he nodded nonetheless.
Li Yuheng smiled slightly, a smile that sent chills down Buck's spine: "I really dislike noise, especially... barking dogs. So, to ensure you can work and live 'quietly' from now on, I think it's necessary to give you a little 'small' help."
Before Buck could even react, a faint glint of ghostly power flashed in Li Yuheng's eyes.
An invisible and intangible yet extremely cunning thread of ghostly power, like the most insidious bee sting, precisely pierced Buck.
Buck felt a tightness in his throat, as if something invisible was choking him.
He instinctively tried to make a sound, but was horrified to find that he could only open his mouth.
The airflow passes through the vocal cords, but can only produce an extremely hoarse, weak, and broken bellows-like "ho...ho..." sound.
It is completely impossible to form clear, meaningful syllables.
Not to mention shouting.
He clutched his throat in terror, his eyes wide open, looking at Li Yuheng as if he were a demon.
Li Yuheng patted him on the shoulder, his tone as relaxed as if nothing had happened: "Looks like Sentinel Buck is a bit feverish, his throat's sore. That's good, less talk, more action, it's better for everyone, isn't it?"
He leaned close to Buck, who was almost limp, and whispered his last words: "Whether this 'minor ailment' will get better, and when it will get better, depends on my mood, and also on your performance. Now, continue your patrol, 'Quiet' Sentinel."
After saying that, Li Yuheng picked up his noise monitoring device, turned around and left leisurely, as if he had just had a friendly technical exchange.
Buck was left standing there, frozen in place, his face ashen, opening and closing his mouth in vain, unable to utter a complete "why," only able to let out a desperate "ho ho."
He's finished.
He completely messed with the wrong person.
From then on, his greatest weapon—his troublemaking mouth—was completely rendered useless.
…
After packing up Buck, Li Yuheng returned to his S-1 dormitory.
Close the door and lock it.
The playful smile on his face and the cold ruthlessness he had shown when threatening Buck vanished instantly, replaced by a deep contemplation.
He walked to the center of the room without turning on the lights.
“0090,” he called out in his mind.
[Yes, Your Highness! You were absolutely brilliant just now! Clean and efficient, eliminating any future trouble! That Buck won't dare utter a sound from now on!]
0090 immediately went online, his tone filled with admiration and a hint of barely perceptible nervousness.
"It's just to scare him, it won't cause any trouble later. The ghostly power will dissipate in a couple of days."
Li Yuheng chuckled and cut straight to the point: "When I first came to this world, did you get any results regarding the matter I asked you to investigate at the Central Tower?"
【Uh… Your Highness, what do you mean…?】
"Don't play dumb with me." Li Yuheng's voice turned cold. "Shu Bai. Is he a mission taker for the Quick Transmigration Bureau? Or... was he, or still is, but something 'problemed'?"
He paused, listing the doubts in his mind: "In the first world, he was a washed-up movie star who was cheated on and hated by the whole internet. In the second world, he was a boss in a dungeon destined to be killed by the protagonist. In this world, he is a 'problem sentinel' that everyone regards as dangerous and has almost been abandoned. Each identity is uniquely tragic, as if it was specially chosen to fit the template of a protagonist in a sadomasochistic novel."
“Once is a coincidence, twice is an accident, but this is the third time!” Li Yuheng’s voice was filled with suppressed anger. “Why do those old bastards in the Quick Transmigration Bureau always pick such shitty identities for my wife? Huh?”
0090 remained silent for a full three seconds, a mechanical voice revealing an almost human hesitation and... fear.
[Your Highness... access... querying requires extremely high privileges... and it involves information about mission participants within the Quick Transmigration Bureau, especially potentially 'abnormal' mission participants. The query itself may trigger an alert...]
"Permissions?" Li Yuheng scoffed. "Didn't you just upgrade to the S+ system? I poured so many resources into you, just so you'd come to me now complaining about insufficient permissions?"
【No, no, no! Your Highness, please calm down. The clearance is sufficient! S+ level can indeed access some highly classified information... but... but regarding Mr. Shu Bai's records... it... it's a bit strange...】
"Speak," Li Yuheng said succinctly, his patience nearly exhausted.
0090 seemed to take a deep breath (if the system had any air), and began to report, speaking extremely quickly and with an incredulous tremor:
[Found! Mr. Shu Bai's true form has been confirmed as... a cow-cat demon. Originally under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Court, but not a formal member of the Quick Transmigration Bureau. Records show that approximately three hundred years ago in the small world's timeline, Shu Bai apparently wanted to speak with the Crown Prince of the Heavenly Court, but after waiting for a long time without receiving any results, he barged into the Crown Prince's palace and beat him up while he was having his meal...]
Li Yuheng: "...Huh?"
This explanation is a bit too abstract.
0090 continued, his tone even more eerie: "According to the records at the time… it seems that the Crown Prince… was eating a kind of celestial fruit when he accidentally choked on the pit, a very dangerous situation. And Mr. Shu Bai just happened to shake the pit out of the Crown Prince's throat…"
Li Yuheng: "…………"
He could already picture the chaotic and inexplicably hilarious scene.
Therefore, 0090 concluded, "The final verdict is: stripped of his immortal status, imprisoned in the Quick Transmigration Bureau, forcibly bound to the 'Abused Protagonist Correction System,' and sent to various small worlds to play the designated abused protagonist, experiencing predetermined plots, until... until his 'rebellious' disrespect for the Heavenly Court is 'corrected,' and he learns 'obedience' and 'acceptance of fate.'"
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