"I have to go to Europe. A mission." Hao Ren tried to imagine himself as a special agency operative in a black trench coat and dark sunglasses. His face was so stern when he said it that it almost didn't look like his own. At any rate, being an employee of the Time-Space Administration Bureau really could change a person's words and manners—he was paying special attention to his image now, though only when he was in front of the two abnormal creatures at home.
Lily immediately lit up from head to toe, as if an invisible tail were sweeping wildly behind her: "Going out to play?! I'm free, I'm free!" Just as Raven 12345 had said, there was no need to worry about this idiot refusing.
Vivian's attention, however, was focused elsewhere: "Uh, if I act as an air conditioner, can I save on the electricity bill and count it toward my rent? Sure, sure..."
Hao Ren felt that this useless Vampire's attention was completely in the wrong place.
"By the way, you can cool things down, but can you heat them up too?" Lily tilted her head and glanced at Vivian. The chilly air swirling around Vivian was happily spinning, and the breeze it produced was fresher than an air conditioner's. "If you can save us the heating bill in winter too, that'll definitely cover your rent."
Vivian thought about it, looking slightly embarrassed: "The Bloodkin are naturally cold-blooded creatures. Making a bit of cold air is fine..."
"Ahem, we're talking about serious business here." Hao Ren hurriedly brought the increasingly bizarre conversation back on track. "Lily, you're coming with me, right? What about you, Vivian? Do you have anything to do? If not, come along too. I'm not very familiar with Europe either."
Hao Ren was telling the truth. It wasn't just Europe that he wasn't familiar with. In fact, he had hardly ever traveled far in his entire life. Aside from knowing every inch of the South Suburbs, anywhere beyond the Third Ring Road was basically another world to him. This was the first time in his life he planned to travel abroad—and it was a publicly funded trip "arranged by the organization." How could he not be a little excited?
I count as a civil servant now, even if it's for a foreign country, Hao Ren thought.
"Me? I don't really have anything to do," Vivian said, lowering her head with slight embarrassment. "I just lost the job I found a couple of days ago, so I'm free now. Hehe, hehehe... Landlord, if I work as your guide, can that count as half a month's rent?"
Hao Ren curled his lips. Girl, can you retain even a little of your dignity as a Vampire? Forget about being some kind of noble of the night—you could at least maintain the standard of a ten-thousand-yuan household of the night! You're so down on your luck that even Lily can't stand watching anymore...
"Stop worrying about the rent," Hao Ren said with a long sigh, looking up at the ceiling. "I signed an indenture contract with Raven 12345. Do you really think I can kick you out? If you're willing, just help with the housework now and then. That'll make me happy enough. As for finding a job... I suggest you stop tormenting the businesses around here that are nearly dying of poverty. I heard that when you went to work at McDonald's a while back, Heaven itself wiped out several hundred food companies in one go just to make sure you stayed poor..."
Vivian hurriedly coughed. "Ahem... That had nothing to do with me!"
At that moment, Lily was still immersed in the excitement of going out to play. She simply transformed into her Werewolf form and began wagging her tail furiously (perhaps this was the only way she could express her unusual emotions): "Landlord, Landlord, when are we leaving? Should I pack my luggage right now? Where exactly are we going? How many days will we stay? Does that mission you mentioned have a time limit? Also, when are we eating?"
Hao Ren waved his hands vigorously and forced the overexcited Werewolf back down. "Don't rush, don't rush. I haven't even bought the plane tickets yet. We'll talk after that Raven sends over the detailed information. Oh, right, let me show you two something fun—this is high tech! The standard equipment of a Time-Space Administration Bureau employee... Damn it! Where did I put it?!"
Hao Ren searched through several pockets, and sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. Even the gentle cool breeze Vivian was blowing was no longer enough to help. He clearly remembered stuffing that insanely cool Data Terminal into his pants pocket, but all he pulled out now were two loose wire ends!
This has gone too far! Hao Ren's first thought was what would happen if this ultramodern gadget fell into an ordinary person's hands. It might create the protagonist of Super Brain Beyond the City, or it might produce an entire reinforced company of Chinese Academy of Sciences experts. But the most likely result was that Raven 12345 would descend from the heavens and beat him to death. This was unquestionably a major work error!
However, just as Hao Ren was frantically searching everywhere without success and was preparing to go outside to retrace his route, he suddenly heard a faint buzzing beside him. Then a small, vortex-shaped Space Gate appeared in midair. The hexagonal "Data Terminal" squeezed crookedly out of the vortex and lightly landed in his hand. A line of holographic text appeared in the air beside it: "User, please take note: Do not casually leave this unit on a vehicle while carrying it. This unit's navigation function is limited—this is f***ing not something a Data Terminal is supposed to do in the first place! Do that again and this unit will report you to the higher-ups."
Hao Ren: "..." He now understood what Raven 12345 had meant by saying its intelligence was "not much worse than yours." This Data Terminal clearly had an artificial intelligence! At the very least, he had never heard of another computer that could curse at its own owner...
Lily was immediately attracted by this novel little gadget. Her tail blurred into a phantom, and she came over with shining eyes: "Landlord, can I play with it?"
Hao Ren thought it over. After confirming that the core summary of the Employee Code he had read earlier contained no prohibition on this, he handed over the Data Terminal. "Be careful. Although Raven 12345 said it was very sturdy, there's nowhere to repair it if you break it."
Lily excitedly took the Data Terminal and fiddled with it for quite some time, but the thing didn't react at all. In the end, it seemed that Lily had annoyed it. Only then did a line of text reluctantly pop up above the Data Terminal: "Insufficient permissions. Stop wasting your effort, will you? This unit has principles."
The three people present: "..."
Vivian was very glad that she had managed to restrain her curiosity earlier and hadn't humiliated herself by rushing over like some country bumpkin. She gave a dry laugh before walking toward the kitchen. "Big Dog, you keep playing. I'm going to cook."
Lily awkwardly returned the Data Terminal to Hao Ren, then suddenly remembered something and ran after her toward the kitchen. "Hey, wait! I'll go with you!"
"You can cook? Don't you only know how to eat?"
"I'm going over to blow the air conditioner. It's so hot in here."
"..."
While Vivian and Lily clattered around busily in the kitchen, Hao Ren held his newly issued Data Terminal and began studying it. His main goal was to see what exactly the Time-Space Administration Bureau did. Over the next half hour or so, the more he read, the more alarmed he became.
The beginning consisted of normal work regulations and various forbidden matters, but the rules and case references that followed were difficult to understand:
"Instructions on the Observation and Guidance Procedures for Special Type III Civilizations"
"Registration Procedures for New Category Six Apocalypses"
"Guidelines for Strictly Standardizing the Declaration Procedures for Local Wars"
"Precautions for Investigators Intervening in Stellar Wars"
"Basic Knowledge Regarding Extinction Orders and the Role of Investigators in the Relevant Procedures"
At the end of those basic work regulations was an entire pile of things that left him dumbfounded.
"Can I ask you something?" Hao Ren knew that his Data Terminal could communicate, so he cautiously asked it in his mind, "These things are obviously incredibly high-level... what exactly do they mean?"
"Exactly what they say." A line of text appeared on the Data Terminal. "But those are matters for official investigators to handle, so they have nothing to do with you for now. Investigators are the Empire's agents in local regions. In religious terms, they're equivalent to living saints or Holy Sons. Is there a problem with handling these routine tasks?"
Hao Ren immediately stated that there was no problem, then went back to soothe his wildly thumping heart.
By afternoon, he had temporarily put those high-level "Employee Instructions" out of his mind. Who knew when they would ever become relevant? For now, he had better deal with his own "mission" first. Raven 12345 had already sent over the mission details.
His destination was the United Kingdom, but not any famous location. It was a remote little town that couldn't even be found on a map. His new tenant was waiting for him there.
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