Pressure

The pressure from the demon hunter seemed to weigh heavily on Vivian. Despite the vampire girl's efforts to appear nonchalant, even someone as oblivious as Hao Ren could tell she was worried and anxious.

Vivian had proactively offered to leave the city immediately if the demon hunter actually appeared, to avoid implicating innocent people. Honestly, Hao Ren was quite touched by this. While vampires were rumored to be cunning and brutal, Vivian was clearly different. Hao Ren didn't know about other vampires, but the one he knew wasn't bad.

Of course, while touched, he couldn't just let Vivian leave like that. He still had three printed copies of what were called "Divine Pacts" in his pocket. If the abnormal creatures at home really left, he wouldn't be able to explain it to Raven 12345. "Don't feel pressured, just live here peacefully. Even if a demon hunter shows up, don't worry, I'll figure something out..."

"Where do you get off being so confident?" Vivian looked at Hao Ren strangely, wondering how this landlord, who seemed honest and trouble-averse just this morning, had suddenly become so responsible. "If it's just to comfort me, then forget it, I don't need it. Don't think too highly of demon hunters; they aren't pure humans themselves, and they won't hold back when it comes to a fight."

"Actually... I ran into some trouble this afternoon. Optimistically speaking, I can't just let you all leave." Hao Ren thought about it and decided there was nothing to hide. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the papers, and handed them over. Then, he recounted his meeting with Raven 12345 that afternoon to the two demon girls.

Lily was always clueless, so she didn't need to be managed. Vivian, however, carefully read the employment contract in Hao Ren's hand, listening to him describe his experience while contemplating. In the end, she was completely stunned. "You... are you serious?"

Hao Ren shrugged. "The real deal. Why would I lie to you?"

"I've heard of the concept of the multiverse, from you humans," Vivian said, waving the printed papers. "I must say, your 'science' is quite a miraculous thing. So, you encountered a super-civilization that claims to rule the multiverse, and they have an organization called the 'Time-Space Administration Bureau' to manage various worlds. There's a strange woman named Raven 12345 who claims to be a god and wants you as her assistant. All in all, you are now..." Vivian looked down at the contract in her hand and read it word by word: "Probationary Examiner for the Wangba Tuozi Office, EN35 Node, Xiling Empire Time-Space Administration Bureau, an extra-curricular apprentice-level temporary worker awaiting assessment..."

Hao Ren wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Hearing someone else read that sentence was even more unnerving than reading it himself.

Vivian was stunned for a moment, then said earnestly, "Landlord, I know you're under a lot of pressure..."

"I'm being serious," Hao Ren said with a wry smile. "Don't talk about yourself, I spent several hours just to reassemble my worldview. Regardless of what the Time-Space Administration Bureau actually looks like, that Raven 12345 is definitely an extraordinary person. If you don't believe me, I'll take you to meet her next time. That shouldn't violate any rules."

Seeing the serious expression on Hao Ren's face, Vivian knew this was likely not a joke. She frowned and began to ponder. "I've never heard of such an organization. I've lived for... well, countless years, at least many years. I have memories from when humans were still using bronze, but I've never heard of a Time-Space Administration Bureau. I've heard of gods, of course, but most of them are just humans scaring themselves. And the Raven 12345 you mentioned doesn't sound like a god at all... Strange, where did they come from?"

"I asked her too," Hao Ren nodded. "Raven 12345 said that humans developed quite well on their own, and she also had other things to attend to, so she never paid attention to Earth. She didn't even care when humans promoted atheism. She just occasionally found an assistant to help her with some trivial matters on Earth, so humans never knew about the Empire's existence—oh, she always refers to the gods as the 'Empire,' which is also quite strange."

"Let's not think about that for now. In short, Raven wants you to be responsible for taking care of the 'Otherworldly Beings' at home, right?" Vivian returned the papers to Hao Ren. "This means she's definitely not allied with the demon hunters, which is good for me. It would be even better if she's willing to help when the demon hunter appears."

"The chances of that are probably slim," Hao Ren shook his head. "According to her, the Empire hardly interferes directly in any events on Earth. Unless humans go too far and decide to wipe themselves out, they won't do anything. However, she will definitely contact me again. We can ask about the situation then. I left in a hurry this afternoon, and I didn't even have time to ask many questions."

Finally, Hao Ren chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Hey, you know, my brain is still a mess right now."

"It's okay," Vivian pointed to Lily, who was staring blankly beside them. "She lives every day as if her brain is a mess, doesn't she? Bravery and optimism lead to a better life..."

Lily let out a yelp and jumped onto the table. "Say that again, you bastard!?"

Vivian barely bothered to respond to the werewolf. As if making a decision, she nodded at Hao Ren. "In any case, I need to find an opportunity to meet that Raven 12345... Her appearance is a bit too sudden, and she seems to know a lot about the relationship between Otherworldly Beings and humans. I need to ask her about it." Then, a hint of embarrassment appeared on Vivian's face. "Actually, we don't live very well in this world. Because of the frequent activities of demon hunters, and the fact that ordinary humans have become increasingly difficult to deal with in the last few centuries, Otherworldly Beings, who were once at the top of the food chain, have become fringe creatures. We don't even have our own historical heritage, and we're severely isolated from each other. So, we have to find information about our own races from human records. It's like this werewolf—she's never met her own kind in her life and only discovered she was a werewolf from human stories. I don't want to become as ignorant as she is."

Hao Ren knew Vivian wanted to inquire about her other kin from Raven 12345. Considering Raven 12345's ability to ramble on while still keeping secrets, he thought Vivian's chances of success were slim, but he didn't say anything in the end.

At this moment, Lily finally snapped out of her daze. The first thing she thought of was, "Hey Landlord, can we eat now?"

Hao Ren: "..."

He suddenly envied this canine, whose life and way of thinking were so simple and crude.

Vivian also gave Lily a look of disdain, then stood up with a smile. "I'll cook today. After all, I'm currently living here for free. Until I find a job and pay off my debts, I'll be responsible for cooking and cleaning, how about that?"

Hao Ren quickly waved his hands, indicating he was very generous. "No, no, don't be so polite..."

Vivian's expression was very serious. "This is my pride as a Blood Clan. I cannot live under someone else's roof and eat for free all day."

Lily said frankly, "If you're this poor, stop being so proud, okay? Is your pride as a Blood Clan just being a maid for food money?"

Hao Ren quickly grabbed a cookie from the side and stuffed it into Lily's hand to distract the werewolf girl. So foolish and dense, and she speaks without thinking. There's no need to poke at someone's sore spots like that!

The dignified vampire going to the kitchen to cook for herself, with a werewolf sitting beside her guarding the house, made Hao Ren feel unprecedentedly self-important. Ever since "Gun" came to his house and demoted him to second-in-command, he hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time. So, he temporarily put his worries aside, made himself a pot of hot tea, and sat under the air conditioning, reading the newspaper, imagining himself as a very powerful person while waiting for dinner. Lily, on the other hand, turned on the TV and flipped through channels (canines are naturally gregarious), happily exclaiming as she changed them, "Hey, Landlord, the TV has a signal!"

Hao Ren immediately remembered the incident where half a brick was embedded in the TV tower. His mood plummeted. He realized that, in essence, he was just a high-level nanny, and a nanny with a combat power of 5 at that...

When Vivian brought the dinner to the table, Hao Ren's worldview was once again refreshed.