Qin Mingze.
As soon as he saw the caller ID, Fu Qian promptly answered.
"You're not home?"
The person on the other end sounded a little confused.
"I'm downstairs eating."
"Well, this is rare. You actually went out to eat!"
Qin's tone was dripping with sarcasm.
"You're not outside my place, are you?"
"What do you think? Get back here, quick. I went home for the weekend and brought you some local specialties...
"Never mind, I'll come find you. I've got something to do later, so I've left the stuff by your door."
Fu Qian was more than happy with that arrangement. He agreed at once and hung up.
As a seasoned shut-in, Qin Mingze was one of Fu Qian's few friends.
He was a few years older than Fu Qian and could be called a brilliant young man.
He came from a wealthy family, was a star athlete and a social butterfly, spoke five foreign languages fluently, and had graduated from a prestigious university at a young age.
He was now interning at a major law firm, determined to become a professional legal shark.
Someone like him should have had nothing in common with Fu Qian, yet somehow they had become friends.
As Qin put it, "Without a professional keeping an eye on you, you're bound to become a threat to society. Whenever I see you, I get this inexplicable sense of duty."
Five minutes later, a tall figure pushed open the McDonald's door and headed straight for Fu Qian.
"You hardly ever leave the house, and you couldn't eat something healthy for once... Holy shit!"
Qin Mingze, dressed in a suit and tie, stopped two steps away from Fu Qian.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"What the hell... happened to you?"
"Oh, I've been working out lately."
Faced with Qin Mingze's bafflement, Fu Qian had already prepared his answer. He put on an innocent expression.
He knew the change in his body was a little over the top.
He'd always been fairly tall, but he'd been on the skinny side. Standing next to Qin Mingze, he'd looked like a walking stick.
But after transforming into the Thug, though he still wasn't as bulky as Qin Mingze, the difference was like night and day. His entire body was packed with lean, powerful muscle.
"You work out now? And you got in shape way too fast! It's only been a little while since I last saw you!"
Even after sitting down, Qin Mingze still couldn't believe his eyes.
"Different strokes for different folks."
Fu Qian kept talking nonsense.
"But weren't you about to go bankrupt?"
"That's why I need to invest in myself even more. I'm changing career paths. Being kept by a rich woman is now officially part of my career plan."
Qin Mingze was still in shock when he left. He kept staring at Fu Qian's physique and shaking his head.
"Everyone really does have their own talents. I'd have to suffer God knows how much to get a body like that. I'd rather trade three of my foreign languages for it."
"You were born to live off a rich woman. In a couple of days, I'll introduce you to a few wealthy ladies. When you strike it rich, don't forget me."
"Of course, of course. I'll never forget your kindness in recognizing my talent."
Only after the shocked Young Master Qin had left did Fu Qian leisurely head home. He found two huge cardboard boxes waiting by his door.
Was he really worried I'd starve to death?
Fu Qian blinked, then carried the boxes inside.
[Work begins for the day] [Warning: Containment breach] [Name: Cocoon Room, Code: 2-292] [Today's work details have been updated: Enter the Containment Scene for 2-292 and complete recontainment]
Ha!
Same familiar style, same familiar feel!
It seemed the Warehouse couldn't go a day without a breach.
When Fu Qian entered the Warehouse the next day, he wasn't surprised to encounter another containment breach.
This time, the anomaly inside the Warehouse was even stranger.
The apparitions of strange cocoons drifted through the air, each made of alternating black and white threads.
The cocoons flickered in and out of sight, sometimes wriggling as if something inside were about to come to life.
[Entering the Containment Scene for 2-292] [...1%...3%...10%...50%...98%...100%, loading complete] [Breaking Out of the Cocoon is a painful process. Humanity's desire for power is endless, yet every step in the pursuit of Supernatural Power is fraught with danger. Immature Forms are fragile and vulnerable. Danger may come from anywhere.] [Containment condition: Ensure Wen Li successfully advances to Sixth Order Transcendent]
Hiss!
The instant the containment condition appeared, Fu Qian sucked in a breath.
He could worry about who Wen Li was later. This was a protection mission!
Everyone knew that in almost every game, protection, escort, and rescue missions were the most troublesome kind.
They were also Fu Qian's least favorite.
Just thinking about those NPCs who loved running around and getting themselves killed made him want to quit.
[Choose the skills you wish to bring]
The familiar skill window appeared again. Fu Qian glanced at the options, but the Thug wasn't among them.
It seemed that ability had completely fused with him and no longer counted as an extra skill.
Without hesitation, Fu Qian brought all the skills.
[Skills: Air Bullet, Internal Organ Critical Hit, Cat School] [Weapon: None]
The scene blurred, then shifted.
Fu Qian instantly readied himself for battle.
He couldn't help it. His previous experiences had left a deep impression.
Every time he appeared, he'd found himself in a perilous situation.
But this time, things were far beyond anything he'd expected.
Blue skies, clear water, lush grass, and shady trees.
A rare and beautiful sight spread before his eyes.
Beneath his feet was a vast circular plaza, paved entirely with stone like white marble.
Looking ahead, he saw a row of imposing white villas. They were lavishly decorated without being ostentatious, and looked undeniably elegant.
In front of the villas, servants in matching uniforms bustled about in small groups.
This setting didn't feel right!
Fu Qian couldn't shake an ominous feeling.
Not only was the atmosphere completely different from the previous two times, but it was hard to connect this scene with the illusion of cocoons in the Warehouse.
When things were out of the ordinary, there was bound to be something fishy. He had to be careful.
"Stop looking around!"
Someone behind him hissed.
Fu Qian turned and saw a colossal figure.
The man stood nearly two meters tall, with rugged features and eyes as round as a bull's.
His muscles bulged beneath his sturdy frame, and his black uniform clung tightly to his body. He was practically a plus-sized Schwarzenegger.
The man slapped Fu Qian's shoulder with an arm thicker than Fu Qian's waist and fixed him with a stern look.
"The Wen Family paid a fortune to hire us. We have to show them we're professionals.
"They've already suffered two assassination attempts in the past month, one of which even involved a Transcendent. We absolutely can't let our guard down."
Fu Qian glanced down at himself. He was wearing the same uniform as the man.
So he was a hired bodyguard this time.
The Wen Family?
The same Wen Family mentioned in Wen Li's introduction?
Fu Qian blinked.
"How did the Wen Family get mixed up with Transcendents? This mission sounds way too dangerous."
"How should I know? A big part of what the employer paid us was to keep us from asking questions."
Schwarzenegger glared at him.
"But I did some digging on my own. The Wen Family might look like ordinary rich people, but their eldest daughter, Wen Li, is a bona fide Transcendent.
"I heard she's a rare Mental System Transcendent. The Wen Family had kept it secret and quietly trained her until now.
"Word recently got out that Wen Li might advance to Sixth Order. If she succeeds, the Wen Family will become a genuine aristocratic power.
"Unfortunately, not everyone wants to see that happen. The Wen Family has made plenty of enemies over the years, so there've been a lot of people stirring up trouble."
So that was how it was.
Fu Qian had a better grasp of the mission now.
Schwarzenegger worked in the business, so his information was probably reliable.
So his mission was to make sure the Wen Family's eldest daughter advanced without a hitch?
What level was a Sixth Order Transcendent, anyway? How did it compare to him?
Of course, what he understood even less was this: in the end, all that was happening was a Transcendent advancing. What did that have to do with the containment object in the Warehouse?
Before you continue