"It's good that you've returned safely!"
Ji Mengyao had just opened the door to find Shen Yiyue, knowing she had come to return the key.
Shen Yiyue handed her the key and casually expressed her gratitude:
"Thanks~ I'll treat you all to dinner next time!"
Ji Mengyao responded with a smile:
"Don't mention it. Wu Di's wound has healed, so we can all work together next time!"
Shen Yiyue made an OK gesture, indicating that would be fine, then suddenly her face took on a gossipy expression:
"Now that his wound has healed, I suppose your sweet cohabitation is coming to an end?"
Seeing Shen Yiyue's mischievous look, Ji Mengyao's face reddened involuntarily, and she began to mumble defensively:
"I told that idiot he could stay a few more days, but he refused. It's not like I'm desperate to have him here! He's been eating my food and using my stuff, hmph...."
"My birthday is coming up in a few days, would it have killed him to stay until after that...."
As she mentioned this, she suddenly remembered something and extended an invitation to Shen Yiyue:
"Oh right, it's my birthday in a few days, you should all come over for drinks and food~!"
"Ah~~I see."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yiyue wore a knowing expression, suspecting that Wu Di was probably planning to prepare a surprise birthday gift.
"What's wrong, are you busy?"
Ji Mengyao noticed Shen Yiyue's hesitation and looked puzzled.
"No, no, no, I'm free. See you then!"
Shen Yiyue finally responded, agreeing with a grin.
Ji Mengyao eyed her suspiciously:
"I feel like you're all hiding something from me...."
"No way, how could that be!"
Shen Yiyue immediately shook her head in denial, knowing she couldn't spoil the surprise – it would ruin all the fun.
She was looking forward to watching their sweet interactions on the birthday, how delightful!
Ji Mengyao furrowed her brows, watching Shen Yiyue's silly smile with even more suspicion:
"Hmm—this is really suspicious...."
Seeing Ji Mengyao growing more suspicious, Shen Yiyue made her escape:
"I've got something to do, gotta go!!"
"Hey!"
Before Ji Mengyao could stop her, Shen Yiyue had already dashed away.
"What's going on...."
She watched Shen Yiyue's retreating figure with confusion and closed the door, feeling somewhat dejected.
......
This time, Ning Yu and Lin Hao met in another empty apartment. They always left coded messages to randomly determine their meeting locations.
After confirming no one was around, Lin Hao used a special key to open the apartment door, where Ning Yu was already waiting.
"How's it going? Any progress on your end?"
Ning Yu asked while pulling out the serum obtained from killing two Gluttons during today's mission.
Lin Hao walked over, taking the two vials of serum from Ning Yu, and sat down in a nearby chair.
"I managed to recover those records, but unfortunately, the mission contents are completely gone. I only recovered partial information."
Ning Yu turned to ask:
"What information?"
"About that person called Wan Heng, I checked the last modified timestamp of his recovered mission record. It was deleted that night."
Lin Hao explained, while storing away the two vials of serum that needed refining.
"So someone knew about his death that night and deleted the records."
Ning Yu made a reasonable deduction.
"Exactly."
Lin Hao nodded.
"It seems this matter is more complicated than I imagined."
Ning Yu pressed her hand against her lips, deep in thought.
"And besides his record, I recovered quite a few other deleted records."
Lin Hao dropped another shocking piece of news.
Ning Yu's eyes narrowed slightly as she took a slow breath:
"Each record equals the death of one or even more Awakened Ones."
Lin Hao silently nodded again, then analyzed:
"These records weren't very frequent. Looking at their timestamp distribution pattern, they averaged one every one to two weeks."
Ning Yu took out her phone, and while there was no signal, she could still check the time:
It had been over a week since Wan Heng's death.
Someone was dispatching Awakened Ones on certain death missions according to a regular schedule. Why?
It seemed like something that only caused harm with no benefit.
Why would anyone do such a thing?
Lin Hao also wore a grave expression, sharing Ning Yu's inability to understand these actions.
"This means there will be another victim soon."
Based on the timing, someone else would fall victim soon. Ning Yu suddenly remembered the two Gluttons they encountered today.
Though not particularly powerful, they had precisely located her and Shen Yiyue. If others encountered such monsters, the outcome would be uncertain.
Others in the base hadn't noticed these abnormalities, probably because exploration team members dying during missions had become commonplace.
It was simply the nature of high-risk, high-reward operations.
"I've written a small background program to continuously monitor file write records in that location."
Lin Hao had already anticipated this and taken preemptive action:
"Whenever a record is deleted, my monitoring program will send a message through the base's intranet to my computer."
"You... know programming? Weren't you studying biological science?"
Ning Yu looked curiously at Lin Hao, feeling this guy had quite a few skills, except for being weak in combat.
Lin Hao scratched his head embarrassedly at her question:
"I actually started with computer science, thinking I'd get a well-paying job after graduation, buy a house early and marry Xiaolu."
"But my old man forced me to change majors and got me into his lab, well... it was that whole following-in-father's-footsteps thing."
He looked naturally intelligent, which explained why he seemed so capable even after changing majors.
"So if something happens to someone else, we can know in advance."
Ning Yu understood but felt this wasn't enough to solve the problem, so she added:
"Is there any way to find out who's deleting these records?"
Finding the person directly would be ideal, but Lin Hao just shook his head helplessly at Ning Yu's question.
"Although many people in the research group have accounts, they don't know each other's identities. I've been wanting to improve this aspect, but...."
He hesitated.
"But what?"
Ning Yu pressed.
"The matter wasn't pushed forward and eventually fizzled out."
Ning Yu felt the suspicious elements were multiplying.
"Oh, one more thing."
Lin Hao pulled out two vials of light golden liquid from his pocket and handed them to Ning Yu, saying:
"I've successfully refined the more evolved serum you brought back last time."
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
