"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."
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
