Great Guardian, Would You Like a Stick?

After a while.

Administrative District.

Outside the convenience store.

A young girl with a delicate appearance was quietly queuing.

The residents in front of her started to panic.

They quickly finished their purchases in a fluster and fled from the line in front of Bronya.

They ran to the back to observe.

What could Bronya, the commander of the Silvermane Guards, possibly be buying at a convenience store?

Finally, Bronya reached the counter.

Her eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.

"Um... hello, what would you like to buy?"

Bronya clutched her sleeve, lowered her head, and stammered:

"A pack... of Furong Wang."

From a distance, Pela saw Bronya at the convenience store entrance receiving a pack of Furong Wang.

As the intelligence officer of the Silvermane Guards, Pela immediately took off her glasses, wiped them, and put them back on.

"Good heavens, am I seeing things? Bronya is buying cigarettes?!"

As Bronya's good friend, Pela hurried over.

Hearing footsteps, Bronya looked up and saw Pela running towards her.

"Pela, why are you running so fast?"

"That's not the point, what are you holding?!" Pela pointed at the pack of Furong Wang, her expression filled with disbelief.

She thought she had misjudged the distance, but it really was cigarettes.

"This is Furong Wang, Pela, haven't you seen it before?" Bronya said dismissively.

"No, I know it's Furong Wang, I mean, why are you buying Furong Wang!"

Pela's eyes were practically bulging out. Bronya had always been known as a model child, conducting herself with elegance and propriety. How could she be queuing at a convenience store to buy Furong Wang?

Has she... has she started to go bad?!

"Pela," Bronya sighed, "What do you think the lockdown has done to the lower district?"

"Huh?"

Pela pulled Bronya aside and asked doubtfully, "Why are you asking this at your level? What would ordinary citizens think if they heard this?!"

Bronya put the Furong Wang into her pocket and sighed, "Just now, I met a reclusive physician. He left the city when he was very young and now plans to return to benefit everyone with his medical skills."

Speaking of which, Bronya felt incredibly distressed:

"Pela, you must understand how difficult it is to survive outside the city, right?"

Pela nodded:

"I understand. The outside is almost completely swallowed by the Void, it's full of monsters."

"Mhm," Bronya replied, looking down.

"It's in such an environment that a reclusive physician, raised by his master, returned to the city today. He said... he was once an orphan from the lower district and asked how the lower district was doing now, as he missed it dearly."

Pela: "..."

Bronya: "He also said that as a member of the lower district, he would definitely repay the builders handsomely upon his return. When he entered the city gates, he used his superb medical skills to heal a large number of Silvermane Guards' hidden injuries without charging any fees."

Bronya lowered her head and said softly:

"He also said that his master had already passed away in the snow fields. His master loved to mention Furong Wang when he was alive, so he wanted to buy a pack to commemorate his mentor."

Pela suddenly understood:

"Bronya, so that's why you were buying cigarettes? I thought you..."

Bronya looked up and blinked:

"Thought I what?"

Pela: "Ahaha, nothing."

Bronya continued to look troubled:

"Pela, you know, when someone like him asks me how the lower district is doing now, can you imagine the pressure I felt at that moment?"

Pela nodded and fell silent.

The lower district had long been abandoned. Only the geothermal marrow and the supply belts for the core materials were still operating. The Silvermane Guards had retreated to the upper levels more than ten years ago. The situation below was likely dire.

"Then... Bronya," Pela looked up and said earnestly, "Did you tell him about the conditions in the lower district?"

Bronya shook her head and said with self-deprecation:

"I didn't dare. As someone from the lower city, he still devoted himself wholeheartedly to Belobog. But we... we've long failed the lower district. I don't even know how to face him now."

Pela swallowed. She finally understood why Bronya had been so uneasy.

If it were her, she wouldn't be able to stay calm either.

"Then, then let's go together. We can't let such a respectable physician remain in the dark. It's our responsibility, and we should bear it."

"Mhm," Bronya nodded. "Then let's go find him. I hope... he won't be too disappointed in us when he learns the truth."

Administrative District.

Plaza.

Yan Huan sat sprawled on a bench, waiting patiently.

Finally, he saw Bronya's figure, with a bespectacled girl beside her.

"Um, Yan Huan, the Furong Wang you wanted... I bought it."

Bronya handed the Furong Wang to Yan Huan. Yan Huan happily accepted it and immediately opened it.

He offered one to Bronya and Pela each.

"Thank you, you two too, have one, don't be shy."

Bronya and Pela: "..."

They looked at each other, neither daring to refuse, so they each took a cigarette and tucked it into their pockets.

"Thank you for your kindness," Bronya said with a polite smile.

"Do you have any plans now? Do you have a place to stay in the upper city?" Bronya continued to ask.

Yan Huan shook his head and put the Furong Wang away in his clothes. "No, I was going to stay at the Goethe Hotel, but I calculated it, and there will be trouble there these few days, so I decided not to."

Pela's eyes widened:

"You can tell fortunes too?!"

Yan Huan waved his hand:

"Ah, it's nothing, really. I know quite a few things – healing people, fighting, running away, I'm a little familiar with them all."

Bronya nodded.

She had initially wanted to tell Yan Huan about the lockdown order right away, but after thinking about it, she decided to let him adapt for a while. It might be easier for him to accept that way.

"Um, can you show us your skills?" Bronya suggested. "Ah, I'm not doubting you, I just want to see if you meet the standards to join the City Builders. Maybe you can get a position with us, and it'll be a place to live."

She continued to explain:

"If possible, I'll introduce you to my mother... ah, the Supreme Guardian. Then your skills will have a place to be utilized."

Yan Huan's eyes lit up.

So, this was like getting an official position, and such a good thing?

The experiences he'd made up earlier seemed to actually be useful.

"Of course, bring it on!"

Kliperburg.

Cocolia looked down at Yan Huan, her expression full of suspicion.

"A reclusive physician? Took on fifty Silvermane Guards alone, didn't even break a sweat, and even healed them all afterward?"

Gepard, standing below, nodded respectfully.

"That's right, Supreme Guardian. I swear on my honor, what Intelligence Officer Pela and Commander Bronya said is true, because I was there too."

Even Gepard was shocked by Yan Huan's terrifying combat power.

As expected of someone who had lived outside the city for so long; not only was his medical skill exceptional, but his combat prowess was also remarkable.

No wonder he wasn't afraid of Void creatures.

Yan Huan, standing behind the three of them, grinned uncontrollably.

He said calmly:

"It's just a few minor tricks, nothing to brag about. Supreme Guardian, please, have one."

As he spoke, he pulled out a Furong Wang and offered it to Cocolia.

"!!!" All three were stunned.