Work and Making Money

"What's wrong?" Bai Ye tilted his head.

The Laterano girl remained silent.

Seeing this, Bai Ye became even more interested. After he pressed her for a while, the girl finally hesitantly asked, "Did you sleep in Miss Warfarin's room yesterday?"

"Don't ask how I knew. Your dormitory hasn't been prepared yet, but we have a guest house specifically for visitors."

"But I looked everywhere for you yesterday and couldn't find you. One of your department colleagues told me Miss Warfarin had taken you away."

Typing Girl rattled all that off in one breath, her delicate little face flushed bright red. Clearly, she wasn't used to speaking in long sentences and hadn't even paused to breathe.

"Ahem, I just slept on her bed..." Bai Ye hurriedly explained.

"You don't need to explain yourself to me... What?! You slept on Miss Warfarin's bed?" Typing Girl felt like she had made more expressions over the past two days than she had in the entire previous year. She truly couldn't hold it in anymore and grabbed Bai Ye's sleeve. "One Miss Warfarin is already enough chaos for Rhodes Island. If there were another... Ah, no, maybe two little Warfarins, wouldn't that be the end of us?"

"What are you even thinking... We only slept. Nothing happened." Bai Ye hadn't expected this Laterano girl's imagination and capacity for wild speculation to be so powerful that she had thought that far ahead.

"No, I need to calm down..." The Laterano girl blushed furiously. She realized that whenever Bai Ye was involved, there would inevitably be some bizarre situation that made her lose her mind.

But this kind of life seemed pretty interesting too. It was far more exciting than her previously unchanging daily routine.

What Typing Girl didn't know was that this was only the beginning.

After all, Rhodes Island had yet to recruit Operators on a large scale. Many distinctive, eccentric Operators had not yet come aboard, and most of the trouble plaguing Logistics came from young little brats.

Though honestly, they weren't that bad.

In the future, when all sorts of gods and monsters came aboard and one spectacle after another unfolded, that would be truly exciting.

Compared to them, Bai Ye could be considered a normal person.

Typing Girl led Bai Ye to his dormitory.

After Bai Ye had come aboard and been promoted at lightning speed yesterday, PRTS and Logistics had begun arranging his dormitory.

A supervisor naturally received a private dormitory. On the space-starved Rhodes Island, that sort of treatment was rare.

"The drones have already cleared the space for you, but the modular furniture hasn't been unfolded yet. You can arrange it yourself through the terminal interface."

"If you want anything customized, you can contact Logistics or communicate directly with PRTS."

PRTS could have handled all of this, but Typing Girl didn't mention that. Instead, she personally explained it to Bai Ye in her capacity as a receptionist.

Who knew what exactly she was thinking.

Naturally, Bai Ye didn't notice such details. He studied the furniture parts scattered across the floor with great interest.

They were prefabricated modular components: table legs, armrests, seat cushions, everything. With a little assembly, they could become exquisite furniture. And there was no need to do it himself—the drones could handle the laborious physical work.

In his previous life, this stuff had been extremely popular among Players.

Players had always been fond of decorating their own homes. Yet having a home of one's own in Arknights Online was quite difficult.

It wasn't until player communities began emerging in the later stages of Version Two, and various political entities built dedicated areas for Players in Mobile Cities to court and attract them, that most Players finally acquired private spaces of their own.

Those Players never liked buying finished furniture. Instead, they were keen on using all kinds of furniture components to recreate their favorite home styles.

The most outrageous of them all was the "Promotion Worship" cult.

Well, those who knew, knew what that bunch liked to do.

Anyway, whenever a game introduced a housing system, they were always there.

Arknights Online was no exception.

The existence of these Players did indeed lead Terra's local scholars to some misunderstandings. When those "Catastrophe scholars" visited certain player communities and investigated the cultures and customs of those "otherworldly populations," they came to some remarkably absurd conclusions.

For instance, they believed that Player culture had preserved the "Promotion Worship" that had existed since ancient times. The scholars speculated this was because Players had lost the ability to reproduce. They couldn't even take off their own pants... Though they appeared to have secondary sexual characteristics and two distinct sexes, they couldn't actually use them...

In any case, none of those misunderstandings or research findings were particularly respectable...

"Is there something you're dissatisfied with?"

Seeing Bai Ye staring blankly at the furniture parts, Typing Girl looked puzzled.

"No, no. I was just thinking about how to arrange things later." Bai Ye snapped out of his memories and stood up from the box of component modules.

Glancing up at the ceiling panels, Bai Ye joked, "I heard that making every fluorescent light requires consuming a Sarkaz halo. Is that true?"

"Uh..."

Typing Girl had no idea how Bai Ye's brain worked, or why he could come up with such an outrageous dark joke.

"Don't say things like that in front of the Notarial Hall's notaries from Laterano in the future. They might not be able to resist shooting you, no matter how handsome you are..." Typing Girl offered her final piece of advice.

What a pity Bai Ye had a mouth.

Typing Girl dearly missed the Bai Ye who had barely spoken when he first came aboard, though that had only lasted half a day.

Bai Ye had wanted to chat with the Laterano girl about the Notarial Hall, but suddenly frowned and casually pulled her aside.

The completely unprepared girl looked utterly confused and fell into Bai Ye's arms, at a loss for what to do.

The next second, the door to the room opposite Bai Ye's dormitory suddenly opened, and a column of fire burst out from within.

"Pfft—"

Water mist immediately sprayed from the corridor ceiling.

As Bai Ye raised a wind shield and observed his surroundings, he realized there were an absurd number of fire safety devices around them, especially all sorts of nozzles.

High-temperature steam flooded the corridor.

Bai Ye waved his hand and dispersed the mist, then released Typing Girl. Only then did he see the culprit behind all this.

She was a little girl with short golden hair tied into two tiny pigtails.

The flames in the girl's hands had yet to die out, and her face still seemed to wear a vicious expression. The instant she saw Bai Ye, her expression froze. She opened her mouth, apparently having no idea what to say.

Bai Ye was just about to speak when she suddenly glanced into the room, turned, and ran...

A moment later, a young Liberi woman wearing glasses rushed out of the room. She first apologized anxiously to Bai Ye, then chased after her.

"..."

Bai Ye withdrew his innate Arts.

Only then did Typing Girl finally process what had just happened.

"Rhodes Island really is..." Bai Ye looked completely bewildered.

Typing Girl straightened her slightly disheveled clothes, stared expressionlessly at the room opposite Bai Ye's dormitory with its door wide open, and said faintly, "I forgot to tell you... This area has an especially large number of temperature monitoring systems and fire-suppression nozzles. Please be careful when using kitchen utensils."

Chapter 11: Work and Making Money

After introducing the dormitory, Typing Girl took Bai Ye around some of Rhodes Island's more basic facilities.

In truth, the Rhodes Island landship itself was only about the size of a single Mobile City district. It was already huge, all right?

However, because of its rather outrageous three-dimensional structure, Rhodes Island could accommodate more people than an ordinary small Mobile City, including affiliated personnel stationed aboard and Oripathy patients taken in by Rhodes Island.

Finally, Typing Girl brought Bai Ye back to his office.

Bai Ye's office was naturally located in External Operations. It was an independent supervisor's office with sturdy Level 3 protection, a Level 7 access electronic door, and two separate systems, including an independent circulation system.

"My tasks are all complete. If you need anything afterward, you can speak directly with PRTS." After saying that, Typing Girl prepared to leave immediately.

Bai Ye glanced at the Rhodes Island terminal system, PRTS, displayed on the terminal, then looked up and stopped Typing Girl. "So, how about giving what I told you before some more thought?"

Bai Ye really wanted this Sarkaz girl to become his secretary. Her personality was quite steady, she was almost always willing to help, and she was usually quiet—not as lively and impulsive as the other Laterano angels.

There was another important reason as well: Bai Ye had heard in his previous life that every Laterano citizen was good at making desserts.

Bai Ye was an out-and-out dessert lover. If he built a good relationship with an angel, wouldn't he get to eat all kinds of sweets every day?

Sigh, Exusiai was just too hopeless.

Bai Ye had originally known that angel from Laterano back in Lungmen. Yet all she ever thought about was apple pie. She simply wasn't a qualified Laterano angel.

"Umm..." Typing Girl fell into deep thought.

She didn't dislike her original position, though she couldn't say she liked it either. Her attitude toward Rhodes Island was that it was a pharmaceutical company willing to employ Laterano people, a place where she didn't need to worry about other troublesome matters. Of course, she was still quite satisfied with life here.

Although things here could indeed get rather chaotic sometimes, and there was a whole bunch of problem children...

To be honest, Bai Ye's proposal tempted her somewhat.

Logistics, especially the department she belonged to, always had to clean up after certain problem children. After doing so again and again, she had begun to feel somewhat exhausted.

Besides, her personal impression of Bai Ye was actually quite good.

What was more, the work here might suit what she truly wanted better—she, Typing Girl of Laterano, only wanted to live a peaceful life!

"Ahem, after I return, I'll submit an application to Human Resources." Typing Girl was rather straightforward. Since she had made up her mind, she wouldn't keep agonizing over it.

After saying that, she hurried away without waiting for Bai Ye's reply.

Bai Ye felt that her retreating figure looked a little flustered.

"..."

Bai Ye tidied up the office and sat down in his chair.

"PRTS?"

He opened his personal terminal and tried calling out.

Designation Alpha, access authorization—7.

Supervisor Bai Ye, welcome to the basic Rhodes Island terminal system.

PRTS's voice leaned toward that of a young woman, though it sounded generally neutral. It was quite pleasant.

This immediately improved Bai Ye's mood, because it reminded him of the smart home assistant from his previous life.

Your intentions have been assessed through biological data. The system has detected that you are in a good mood. It is a bright and sunny day today.

"Let's deal with work first." Bai Ye stretched, then took out the bread he had bought earlier in the cafeteria from his pocket.

Carbohydrate intake detected. Supervisor Bai Ye, please maintain a balanced diet. The system recommends pairing breakfast with the following fruits and vegetables...

As Bai Ye flipped through the documents PRTS had provided on the terminal and gnawed on his bread, he realized this system seemed rather talkative.

"Have the messengers departed?"

Querying database. Query complete. Results as follows: 23 people have departed. The remaining 7 are preparing due to the remoteness of their routes.

Bai Ye sighed helplessly. "Communication methods are far too outdated. On average, even delivering information takes seven days, and that's after expediting it."

The recording of Bai Ye's earlier speech, along with several proposals settled during the subsequent discussion, had already been distributed for messengers to deliver to offices established in important hub regions.

Catastrophes and Originium blocked direct communication between cities. There was nothing to be done about it.

PRTS comforted him from the side.

Bai Ye nodded. For now, that was all they could do.

But once Players began logging in on a large scale, this situation might improve.

It wouldn't just mean more manpower and more frequent contact.

More importantly, Players possessed a communication system independent of Terra—they could type or voice chat directly in the game!

Not to mention the forums.

Although that would greatly reduce information security, two Players located in different places could achieve revolutionary instant communication technology!

For a Terra continent that relied heavily on messengers, this technology held strategic significance.

Unfortunately, Players were uncontrollable and couldn't be relied upon too heavily. However, they could establish a dedicated department to recruit a group of more laid-back Players to build this human communication system.

"PRTS, record and file my thoughts just now. Set the task priority to the first tier, and execute it immediately once the time is right."

Bai Ye instantly entered work mode. He couldn't remain seated in his office forever, so he needed to handle tasks first or arrange and delegate them. That way, he could run around everywhere.

As a supervisor, he didn't need to handle every matter personally. Compared with management, Bai Ye was more accustomed to resolving trouble through force. Still, this "office work" had to be done too. At the very least, he needed to assign tasks to the managers under him so they could carry them out.

"PRTS, create a discussion group for me. From now on, all External Operations management meetings will be conducted through the discussion group."

"PRTS, help me..."

Once Bai Ye entered work mode, his efficiency was incredibly high. He could focus entirely on handling work, a habit cultivated during his previous life as a Player. He could grind levels mechanically for an entire day, successfully putting a large number of livestream viewers to sleep.