Although the five-digit White-Haired Demoness looked rather unreliable, she never made mistakes with the things she promised. Hao Ren finally received the activity funds allocated to him by the organization. Looking at the extra digits in his bank account, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. This treatment is incredible. If Raven 12345 had just slapped this string of zeroes in my face back then, I definitely would have signed the contract without a second thought!
Hao Ren realized something: he had to learn to break free from the mindset of an ordinary commoner and view a monster organization like the "Time-Space Administration Bureau" from a higher perspective. To that organization, human currency was probably just a tool for its operations, and one that could be mass-produced without limit. Hao Ren had been tempted to hold up his bank card and ask Raven 12345 to add a few more zeroes, but after thinking about it, he decided that would be too embarrassing...
Regardless, the activity funds had solved the problem, and they had also taken care of Vampire Vivian's food expenses for at least two years. Ever since that useless vampire moved into his home, Hao Ren had essentially been supporting her for free. Saying that he was hiring a maid and offsetting the rent with savings on electricity and such was mostly a joke. Hao Ren was just an ordinary commoner—how could he possibly afford someone of that caliber? He had merely found an excuse that would let both himself and Vivian accept their freeloading situation with peace of mind. But now, that was no longer a problem. The five-digit White-Haired Demoness had allocated him enough activity funds for the three of them to travel around the world. All they had to do was go to Britain and pick someone up...
On the way to Capital International Airport, Vivian had already muttered beside him more than once, "Landlord, do you think that Time-Space Administration Bureau is hiring? I could go over and help them with refrigeration!"
Even after they boarded the plane, Vivian kept muttering about it, and Hao Ren finally could not hold back. "Give it a rest. This requires talent, you know? I'm at least a reserve civil servant and a candidate Holy Son. Do you think getting in is that easy? Besides, that White-Haired Demoness's house is warm in winter and cool in summer. As a bona fide Goddess, I doubt she even needs air conditioning..."
For the past two days, Vivian had been responsible for cooling the entire house. In addition to saving on electricity, the three people in the household had tacitly started treating her as an air conditioner.
The Vampire Girl curled her lip, then leaned beside the airplane window and watched the ground crew bustling around below with curiosity as she muttered, "Was it really okay to leave Roll at home?"
"It's fine. That thing's tough as nails. Don't forget where it came from." Hao Ren was not worried in the slightest. Since everyone in the household was leaving, they naturally could not bring the cat onto the plane. Arranging international transport for the beast was not very realistic either, so he had left Roll at home in a neighbor's care. In reality, however, Hao Ren was certain that the clever beast was more likely to sneak out of someone else's house the very next day and fend for itself. It had a history of doing so. "Back then, despite weighing less than ten pounds, it managed to dominate every cat and dog den on the entire street. Its wilderness survival skills are better than mine. When I first raised it two years ago, I used to worry whenever I went out, but I stopped worrying later. Leave that fellow outside for a month, and it comes back weighing more than half a pound heavier..."
"Landlord, what do you think Britain is like? I've never been there." Lily sat across from Hao Ren. She was currently peering out the window while scratching at her head with her four limbs on the floor, asking curiously.
This time, the "activity funds" were ample, and Hao Ren was feeling especially flush, so he had directly bought first-class tickets. The three of them had plenty of space around them, with partitions separating them from the other passengers. Lily, who could never sit still, had already been squirming around for ages before the plane even took off. Of course, having enough money was only one reason he had bought first class. More importantly, the first-class section offered better privacy. Hao Ren knew that he was traveling with two individuals from exceptionally unusual races. Although, theoretically, neither experienced superwoman would embarrass herself, he was still cautious as an ordinary commoner. He wanted to keep the two of them as far away from ordinary people as possible during the journey. That would also make it more convenient to discuss certain "classified topics."
"How would I know? I've never been there either." Hao Ren shrugged, then turned toward Vivian. "Oh, right. Let me confirm this one more time: you really have been to Britain, right? We'll be relying on you as our guide once we get there. You claim to know English..."
"Of course. I care a great deal about my reputation and don't say things recklessly." Vivian puffed out her chest. "I've traveled all over the world, after all. I knew the Earth was round back when you humans still ate raw meat. Where haven't I been? I even worked at the Vatican..."
Hao Ren hurriedly coughed twice. "Ahem, ahem. There's no need to mention your days making a living in a church again. I really wonder what your fellow vampires would think if they knew about that glorious experience."
"My fellow vampires? I haven't seen them in several centuries. Most of them are stubborn fools, while the few clever ones are even better at hiding than I am." Vivian shrugged. "Our race is extremely loose-knit. Even at its height, it was a disorganized mess. Otherwise, how could we have become so marginalized by now? Sigh, let's not talk about what happened back then. Thinking about it gives me a pounding headache full of gloom. How did I spend my whole life in such a muddle?"
Hao Ren chuckled. "You know you've been muddling through. Fine, as long as you know English and can find your way around, we'll be set. That'll save us from having to find a guide. We can't ask anyone else to help with our business. That Raven said that, to train the new employees' ability to handle affairs, she wouldn't even provide us with a map..."
Vivian confidently thumped her chest. "Don't worry, don't worry. Arthur Pendragon couldn't even win an argument with me when we traded insults. I lived there for more than a hundred and thirty years, and I speak English like it's my native language."
Hao Ren listened in a daze, feeling that something was off, but the amount of information in Vivian's sentence was simply too great for him to analyze it carefully. In the end, he just nodded and let the matter drop.
After a while, Hao Ren saw that Lily still had no intention of settling down, so he found a topic to draw the werewolf girl's attention. "There's something I've always wanted to ask. How do you solve the identity problem when you live in the human world? Especially you, Lily—how did you manage it?"
This question had troubled Hao Ren for several days. Vivian could at least be considered an ancient being who had grown wise with age, so he would set her aside for now. But how had this idiot Lily solved her identity problems in modern society? She claimed to have roamed the world since the Republic of China era, and had been a famous artistic young woman in Shanghai when Shen Bao was still around. Nearly a century had passed since then, during which the forms of official identification had changed countless times. Yet this idiot Lily had somehow managed to live comfortably and thrive in the human world—and, judging by appearances, she was doing even better than Vivian. It was genuinely intriguing.
Upon hearing this, Lily crouched properly in her seat. A pair of pointed ears seemed to twitch atop her head. "It wasn't difficult. I personally watched your social order develop from nothing. I know human society inside and out. Living among humans is completely effortless."
At that, Lily suddenly raised her head with great alertness. Her usually unreliable mind had finally managed to be clever for once. "Why especially me? Do you think I'm stupid?"
Hao Ren hurriedly shook his head. Beside him, Vivian turned her face away, looking as though she could not bear to watch. Lily, meanwhile, corrected him with solemn precision. "I know you always think I'm not very clever. My sixth sense is extremely sharp. I just can't be bothered to argue with you. It's a matter of attitude toward life. Landlord, let me tell you something. Don't be fooled by how I usually don't like using my brain—I've got plenty of skills under the surface! I know lots of people. For example... Uh, most of them are probably dead by now, so never mind. Anyway, I'm amazing!"
Hao Ren wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. His instincts told him that Lily had very likely been about to rattle off a long list of terrifying names, many of which were probably forbidden topics. Fortunately, the werewolf girl had stopped herself fairly quickly. Living with these two superwomen brought similar surprises every day. They spoke of famous historical figures as casually as if they were discussing Old Zhao from the house at the end of the street, completely disregarding how badly their listener's liver was trembling.
At that moment, the plane finally finished preparing for takeoff. A flight attendant began reminding the passengers to sit properly and fasten their seat belts. Lily, who had been fidgeting for so long, obediently settled down, swiftly buckled her seat belt, and then she and Hao Ren simultaneously noticed something utterly astonishing: Vivian seemed to be trembling...
She had always carried herself with composure and at least possessed some of a vampire's dignity, but the moment she heard the announcement that the plane was about to take off, her expression began to change. She apparently did not even understand how to use the seat belt. After Hao Ren helped Vivian buckle it, he could not resist asking, "Are you afraid of flying? You have wings yourself!"
"I've never ridden in one of these..." Vivian said weakly.
Hao Ren was instantly surprised. This vampire had watched the construction of the Pyramid of Khufu from start to finish, crouching nearby to observe. She had seen so much that it was practically absurd—and yet she had never been on an airplane?
Vivian looked as though she was about to cry. "I couldn't afford a plane ticket..."
Hao Ren: "..."
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