Set a Small Goal

When Wang Wen returned to the Academy, it was just in time for dinner at the cafeteria.

The Academy cafeteria really did have a conscience.

Dinner was actually fried noodles! There was even a decent amount of shredded meat in them!

The price was a bargain, too: 50 grams for 1 Point. If you had a good enough relationship with the staff, you could even get 80 to 100 grams!

The skinny boy was delighted to see Wang Wen and insisted on treating him.

Wang Wen didn't argue.

Instead, he piled several generous spoonfuls of fried noodles into his bowl.

The scale showed that he had taken over a pound.

The skinny boy was a man of his word. He swiped away more than ten Points without even blinking.

The two of them carried their bowls over and found a table.

After a few mouthfuls, the noodles were so dry they caught in his throat. Wang Wen stopped eating and took a breather, then pulled a brand-new phone from his pocket and slid it across the table.

With noodles hanging from the corner of his mouth, the skinny boy stared blankly at the phone by his hand. "You bought a phone? What model is this? It's so pretty!"

"It's for you." Wang Wen caught his breath and felt a little better, then lowered his head and started eating again. "My number's saved in it. Just open your contacts and you'll see it."

The skinny boy's eyes widened in disbelief. "It's for me?"

He was so shocked that he stopped eating.

He put down his bowl and chopsticks, clapped his hands outside the table, then vigorously wiped them on his pants. Only after that did he slowly pick up the phone and examine it.

The instant the screen lit up, his expression turned enraptured.

He toyed with it lovingly for quite a while before suddenly stopping.

"Why are you giving me something so expensive?" The skinny boy eyed Wang Wen warily. "Are you trying to keep me as your sugar baby?!"

Wang Wen looked up, the corner of his eye twitching.

At the next table, a young man and woman who seemed like close classmates were sitting together. The girl suddenly spat out her noodles with a "Pfft!"

A mouthful of fried noodles sprayed all over the young man's face.

She kept saying, "I'm sorry," as she stood up and helped wipe him clean with a tissue.

In the middle of her flustered efforts, she noticed Wang Wen and the skinny boy turning to look. Another "Pfft!" sent noodles flying all over the young man's face.

The girl covered her mouth, looking as if she were in ecstasy and agony at once.

She bowed in a flurry of apologies, then ran off shyly, leaving the young man with a face full of noodles and confusion.

"I might be pretty busy from now on," Wang Wen told the skinny boy. "It'll be easier to stay in touch with a phone. You can call me anytime."

At that, all the joy of getting a new phone vanished from the skinny boy's face.

He pushed the phone back with a hesitant look.

Wang Wen was confused. "What are you doing?"

The boy's voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz. "I don't want the phone."

Wang Wen's words had frightened him. It felt as if, once he accepted the phone, Wang Wen would stop coming back to the Academy.

From then on, they would only be able to contact each other by phone.

They would never see each other in person again.

To the boy, that was a terrible feeling.

Wang Wen was his only friend at the Academy.

If accepting a phone meant losing that friend, then he would rather not have it.

Even if the phone really was beautiful.

Having lived two lifetimes, Wang Wen understood what the boy meant after only a moment's thought.

He felt touched, but even more exasperated. "Are you an idiot? Just put the phone away! Then you can let me know about exams in time, too!"

The skinny boy looked at him suspiciously. "Do you still have to take exams?"

"Of course I do! I'm still a student!" Wang Wen tossed the phone straight into his arms, startling the boy into a flurry of fumbling.

The next day.

After morning exercises.

Having finished breakfast, Wang Wen left the Academy again.

No one could have guessed that, just a few days after getting "out of prison," Wang Wen would return to the Guard Department carrying a huge pile of things.

The Chief had gone on a business trip to give a report at the World Security Headquarters.

He wouldn't be back for a few days, so Vice Chief Jiang was temporarily in charge of the Regional Security Department.

Without the Chief, the atmosphere in the Guard Department was much more relaxed.

Everyone was lively.

When they saw Wang Wen, some cheered, some hugged him, and some even flipped tables.

Wang Wen handed out the gifts he'd brought, one by one.

After settling the cost of a few items with the Vice Chief the day before, there wasn't much money left in his account.

He'd spent just two or three hundred Points on snacks and other prepared foods, but the guards didn't turn their noses up at anything. They eagerly crowded around, happy to humor him, and the whole lot was gone in no time.

After joking around with everyone for a while,

Wang Wen followed the Vice Chief to an open area deep inside the Guard Department.

The Vice Chief pointed proudly at the assortment of facilities in the area and introduced them. "What do you think? This is our training ground. Not bad, right?"

Wang Wen walked around the grounds, looking at everything. Under the Vice Chief's bug-eyed stare, he casually dismantled a few mechanisms and put them back together, then nodded to show that it was indeed not bad.

It was obvious that the two of them meant entirely different things by "not bad."

The Vice Chief's "not bad" was modesty tinged with pride.

Wang Wen genuinely meant that it was just okay.

In his view, it was already impressive that the Guard Department had put in the effort to build a simulated World Tower training ground. He couldn't expect too much.

Judged strictly, this training ground couldn't compare with the First Consortium's. It couldn't even match the training ground at the Academy.

Calling it "crude" or "shoddy" would have been generous.

Aside from a few standard fitness areas, the entire grounds had no facilities for Scientific Deciphering or mental strength training.

The handful of mechanism models were all from below the hundredth floor.

Rather than a World Tower training ground, this place was more like a gym or sports hall.

Wang Wen clicked his tongue in amazement, feeling deeply sorry for the pitifully poor Guard Department.

"So, at the moment," he asked, turning to the Vice Chief, "there are only five people in the Regional Security Department who can reach the two-hundredth floor, including you, Vice Chief Jiang?"

Vice Chief Jiang didn't like hearing the words "only five." "Apart from Headquarters, our Guard Department ranks among the top three in the entire Eastern Region!"

Wang Wen's eye twitched speechlessly.

Even if they ranked first, they'd still just be the tallest of the short. They didn't even have a team that could reach the five-hundredth floor. What was there to brag about?

"Then let's set a small goal," Wang Wen said, holding up one finger as he looked at the Vice Chief. "Let's get first place."

The Vice Chief's expression twisted. "Don't joke around! The Guard Department in first place has several tough characters who can reach the three-hundredth floor!"

Seeing how unconcerned Wang Wen looked, he said anxiously, "Instead of that, shouldn't we figure out how to get more of the Earth-Shaking Talismans from the two-hundredth floor? You said the First Consortium was fighting over them, too. They refresh once a week, and someone has to go in and restart them. It's a race to grab resources. I reckon Xiao Chen and the others will go crazy if they come back empty-handed again."

"Don't keep your eyes fixed on these little things." Wang Wen shook a finger, his expression turning serious. "What about that partnership I mentioned earlier? Have you thought it over?"

The Vice Chief hesitated. "We are public officials, after all. A private partnership with you doesn't seem quite appropriate."

"Don't you always say the Guard Department is struggling, that you're entirely dependent on funding from above and have no way to generate income of your own?" He pointed toward the lobby they'd come through. "There are so few people in a department this big. If the pay and benefits aren't good enough, who'll want to work here? This time, the bonuses were covered by the Earth-Shaking Talismans I gave you. What about next time? And the time after that?"

He grabbed the Vice Chief by the shoulders and spoke earnestly. "Vice Chief Jiang, it's time to make a change! Working with me benefits us both. There's no downside for you!"

The Vice Chief was silent for a long time. In the end, he couldn't resist the harsh reality and asked cautiously, "How much did you say we could make each week?"

"At least a hundred thousand!"

"Damn it! I'm in!"