Xu Le returned to the dormitory and brought out Ding Ke, who was poking around.
Although he had no idea what this black cat did at home every day, Xu Le had noticed that the number of pages in his notebook was shrinking.
The black cat had probably torn them out. Cats did love wreaking havoc.
"I'm taking you out for something tasty today, so stop destroying my notes."
Meow! At the mention of going out, Ding Ke grew excited.
Xu Le looked at the cat's almost human expression. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.
After returning from the dormitory to the Branch Office, Xu Le did not go back inside.
Although he liked Ding Ke very much, he would not impose his preferences on others.
He liked the cat, but others did not. Forcing them to accept a black cat was emotional blackmail in itself.
"Let's wait outside for a bit."
Meow!
Xu Le stood at the entrance to the Branch Office with the black cat. Every so often, someone leaving work greeted him.
After spending some time with him, the people at the Branch Office had gradually become familiar with this easygoing young man.
As he waited, he kept his Guyinduo Vision active. Watching the pixelated blocks that occasionally appeared around him and swiftly vanished, Xu Le knew they were all sudden fluctuations in Guyinduo power.
Was Guyinduo like a disease afflicting this world? It didn't seem that simple.
Some more time passed. At around seven, Wang Shu and Gu Beichen returned with the injured tomboy from earlier.
"She wasn't hospitalized?" Xu Le was surprised.
Although her steps were still somewhat unsteady, her physical condition had clearly improved a great deal since the corruption had been removed.
Perhaps that had something to do with her supernatural constitution.
The three approached Xu Le, and the short-haired girl nodded at him.
"They told me what happened. Thank you for saving me. My name is Li Shunliu. They all call me Shunliu."
Shunliu? Nice name.
"No need to thank me. We're colleagues. I'm Xu Le."
Wang Shu wanted to ask why Xu Le was waiting outside the Branch Office, but when he saw the black cat in his arms, he dropped the question.
"Let's go to the Bright Hotel. My treat today."
Gu Beichen seemed to be in a good mood. Wang Shu said nothing, while Li Shunliu turned her head away, seemingly reluctant to talk to them.
Still, she did not refuse Gu Beichen's invitation to dinner.
Looking at the three different expressions, Xu Le grew thoughtful. There had to be a story behind these three.
"Bright? Sounds like a nice restaurant."
"Of course. It's the best in District B."
No drinking if you drove, and no driving if you drank.
The four of them spent twenty cents to squeeze into a Steam Tricycle and soon arrived at the Bright Hotel.
Although it was in the Lower City and called a hotel, it was actually a large dining and entertainment complex beside the Moat.
Besides dining, it offered fitness facilities, swimming, shooting, club massages, and other services.
Even people from the Upper City often came here for recreation.
"Do you guys... pay when you come here?" Xu Le suddenly asked.
"We're supernaturals. Supernaturals don't exploit ordinary people for profit. Xu Le, I think there's something wrong with your thinking."
Gu Beichen's tone was rather stern, leaving Xu Le with nothing to do but scratch his head.
He pursed his lips. That wasn't what you said last time you tried to recruit me.
Seated by a window, Gu Beichen took the menu from the waiter, briskly selected several dishes, and handed it back.
He clearly came here often. After ordering, he turned to the other three and asked:
"What would you like to drink?"
"Hot water."
"Orange juice."
"Got any happy water?"
Not one of the three ordered alcohol. The waiter, who earned commission on alcoholic drinks, could not help twitching at the corners of his mouth. How were they supposed to make a profit if no one drank?
"None of you will be having alcohol?"
"No," the three answered in unison.
Wang Shu genuinely did not drink alcohol. He had always been extremely disciplined and drank only water.
Li Shunliu had ordered orange juice because her injuries meant she could not drink alcohol.
As for Xu Le, it absolutely was not because he could only handle a couple of shots and feared blacking out on the spot.
His main concern was that he still had to study after returning to the dormitory. He could not drink before practicing Divination.
"All right, give me an orange juice too. It hardly suits my status, but since none of you are drinking, I shouldn't stand out too much. What can I say? I'm a modest man."
Gu Beichen still sounded as pretentious as ever, but Xu Le no longer found it irritating.
If you helped this guy out, he really would buy you dinner.
A guy worth knowing.
Ding Ke stirred in his arms, reminding Xu Le that he had not ordered anything for the cat. He immediately addressed the waiter:
"Could you get me some dried fish and sausages? My cat hasn't eaten yet."
"Of course. Please give us a moment, sir."
Seeing that none of the four had ordered alcohol, the waiter left in disappointment.
While they waited, Wang Shu, who had remained silent all this time, spoke first:
"Since the Black Tide, none of the city-states have been peaceful. Things seem to have changed a little."
No one responded, leaving Wang Shu somewhat embarrassed.
He paused in thought, then spoke again:
"Lately, sudden mutations and corruption have been cropping up frequently in Lighthouse. The dark rules have changed too, and the Branch Office is short-handed."
Li Shunliu kept her head down, Gu Beichen watched her, and Xu Le stroked his cat. Still, no one spoke.
Had Xu Le not heard him? Of course he had.
But could he respond to that? Of course not!
Deliberately avoiding the topic, Xu Le activated his Guyinduo Vision and looked out the window. What he saw made him frown.
[Under the influence of the children of Guyinduo, the dark rules have changed.]
We're inside Lighthouse. Even the city is affected? Is this what Wang Shu was talking about?
Looking into the distance, Xu Le felt a little worried. Still, as long as no one mutated, things should be fine.
Seeing that Xu Le remained silent, Wang Shu refused to give up:
"Xu Le, the team's a little short-handed right now. Could you..."
"Here are your drinks and dishes. Crab rice, beef hot pot, and roast chicken. The rest will be out shortly."
The waiter interrupted Wang Shu. Although helpless, Wang Shu did not continue.
After the waiter left, Xu Le felt he should not ignore Wang Shu like this and spoke with some hesitation:
"What were you saying just now, Wang Shu? I didn't catch it."
Wang Shu's eyelid twitched. He had reviewed Xu Le's personality and background many times and knew perfectly well that Xu Le was an intelligent man.
In Bai Jing's words, he knew when to advance and retreat, understood what to keep and what to give up, yet had not lost the boldness of youth.
With everything Wang Shu had already said, there was no way Xu Le had failed to understand.
He was playing dumb. He simply did not want to come!
"Xu Le, things are a little complicated right now. Corruption and mutations have been occurring far more erratically than before. The captain's struggling to hold things together."
Xu Le, who was feeding his cat, fell silent. With Wang Shu putting it so plainly, how could he keep dodging the issue?
"When I signed the contract, we agreed I wouldn't do fieldwork. I'm not particularly capable anyway. Why do you keep coming after me, Wang Shu?"
The corners of Gu Beichen's and Li Shunliu's mouths twitched at that. Gu Beichen, in particular, could not understand it at all:
"Xu Le, how can you keep saying you're not particularly capable?"
"Because he knows he is capable, so he doesn't care what he says."
Li Shunliu's sudden interjection stunned both Wang Shu and Gu Beichen.
Exactly. It was precisely because he possessed those abilities that Xu Le did not care how people judged him in that regard.
Xu Le looked at Li Shunliu resentfully. This woman is too much. I saved you this afternoon, and by evening you're already exposing me.
Now I can't even keep a low profile.
By this point, Xu Le understood the purpose of this meal.
This was no thank-you dinner. They were here to press him into service.
His resolve was rock-solid. There was absolutely no way they would persuade him this time.
"Ahem. It's not that I don't want to help. The captain and Mr. Gan have both treated me well, and I know that. But you also know I'm someone who follows the rules. We have to abide by the contract. We can't overstep it."
For this little pay, you want me to risk my life? Is that remotely reasonable?
Wang Shu looked at Xu Le expressionlessly. You want to talk contracts? Fine. Let's talk contracts.
"The contract says you don't have to do fieldwork, but you still have to perform internal duties."
At those words, Xu Le immediately had an ominous feeling.
"What do you mean, Wang Shu?"
"Any work done within Lighthouse City technically counts as internal duties."
The hand holding the sausage trembled. Xu Le looked sadly at Wang Shu, unable to understand how this seemingly honest man could be so devious.
"You said people from Lighthouse don't trick other people from Lighthouse. Is it right to deceive a university student who hasn't even graduated?"
"Perfectly right. Besides, you're not from Lighthouse."
Xu Le fell silent.
Although he usually addressed Wang Shu warmly, his assessment of him at this moment was... Wang Shu's no good. Not worth knowing.
Seeing the gathering fall silent, Gu Beichen started making awkward conversation again:
"This crab rice is pretty good. Tender and fresh, with a golden color. Just barely worthy of my status as a level-two Warlock. What are you staring at? Eat! What, are you refusing to do me, Gu Beichen, the courtesy?"
Xu Le glanced at Gu Beichen. He had always thought the man was only good at showing off. He had not expected him to double as the mood-lifter.
Wang Shu, on the other hand, worked tirelessly and conscientiously. He truly lived up to his position as Bai Jing's trusted aide.
"All right, let's eat."
Once the four began eating, no one brought up Xu Le taking part in internal assignments again.
They did not even discuss the rescue that afternoon.
Wang Shu and Gu Beichen's reasoning was simple. Whatever Xu Le said, and whether or not he came to help, he was still part of the team.
Even if there were some slight issues with Xu Le's ability, it was a fact that he had saved Li Shunliu.
This was a genuine method of removing corruption, one even more effective than Heart Energy channeling.
Since it belonged to one of their own, why expose it to outsiders?
Who could guarantee that they would never be corrupted themselves?
As for the dead Psyche Worm, who gave a damn about one worm?
Once they stopped discussing work, the meal was quite harmonious, especially for Ding Ke, whose spending had not been restricted.
The cat actually ate more than a dozen crab sausages. Although prices here were lower than in the Upper City, they were still the highest in the Lower City.
Each sausage cost two dollars, meaning the cat had eaten nearly thirty dollars' worth of sausages alone.
It left Xu Le feeling a little embarrassed.
And for some reason, the black cat seemed to have gone a little crazy. After noticing Xu Le drinking happy water, the cat kept pawing at it, wanting a taste.
Xu Le repeatedly warned the cat sternly: "Cats can't drink happy water."
In the end, however, Ding Ke still sneaked a small cup.
That one little cup sent the cat into a frenzy.
The cat clung to the cola bottle and refused to let go, looking as though more happiness was absolutely essential.
Helpless, Xu Le could only hand over the cola.
Before you continue