Virtue

"Uh, I mean..." Ji Tan faltered, realizing Xie Zhi hadn't seemed to like his choice of words.

He guessed the supernatural abilities here probably had different ranks, too. His boss had always been competitive and might not be able to accept the fact that Huo Zhaixing was stronger than him. So he phrased it more tactfully. "Is there some kind of stamina pill that could make that ability of yours last ten minutes, or eight?"

Like the spirit pills in cultivation novels or the crystal cores in apocalypse novels: eat or absorb them, and you could recover your strength and keep fighting.

Xie Zhi closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, then opened them again, restoring his warm, approachable smile as he said calmly through gritted teeth, "I set a thirty-second limit so I wouldn't interfere with emergency treatment at the hospital."

Ji Tan followed Mr. Xie's pointing finger. Three ambulances were jammed together downstairs. With the hospital sealed off by an invisible force, the ambulances that had arrived first couldn't hand over their patients, while those arriving behind them had no idea what was happening and could only frantically urge them to hurry.

The patients being carried out were drenched in blood, their families jumping up and down beside the stretchers, wailing shrilly. The doctors could only have the stretchers set on the ground and kneel to perform CPR.

"That bastard Huo Zhaixing really deserves to die."

When Ji Tan used to read these Overlord novels, he often worried about the innocent bystanders. The CEO's first love went abroad, and the Overlord shut down the airport; his fiancée ran out on their wedding, and the Overlord blocked the roads; his darling wife ran away pregnant, and the Overlord locked down the entire city... What about everyone else who was in a hurry to get somewhere?

The scene before him gave him his answer.

"Ji Tan! I know you're in there! Open the door! That Xie guy will get you killed! Don't listen to him!" The iron rooftop door rattled under a barrage of pounding. Like Aunt Xue coming to catch someone cheating, Huo Zhaixing shouted and kicked the door, utterly lacking in manners.

Ji Tan eyed the precarious, rusty hinges uneasily and asked in a low voice, "How long did you put the prohibition on this door for?"

Xie Zhi glanced at the hand secretly tugging his jacket sleeve and raised an eyebrow slightly. "No time limit."

In other words, it could last until the force Xie Zhi had applied dissipated. Ji Tan nodded in understanding. After two seconds of silence, he couldn't resist asking again, "So is there a pill like that or not?" He still wasn't reassured.

"No!"

Based on Ji Tan's years of experience as a corporate drone, his former boss was angry, though he didn't know why. But bosses were creatures that got angry easily anyway. At times like these, all he needed to do was shut up and pretend he didn't exist.

So he didn't dare ask what they would do after ten minutes, either. He simply found a sheltered corner and crouched there like a mushroom, quietly listening to President Huo demanding entry. Apparently realizing there was a prohibition on the door, Huo Zhaixing started shouting for his bodyguards to find a sledgehammer and smash through the wall.

Does this guy have XYY syndrome? Ji Tan muttered under his breath, quietly counting, "Eighty, eighty..."

A suit jacket came flying over his head, giving Mr. Mushroom an expensive "cap."

The lingering body heat in the jacket eased his numb body. His taut pores relaxed, and he gradually recovered from that state of acute stress. At the same time, the minor injuries all over his body began clamoring for attention. His neck hurt, his hands hurt, his feet hurt.

Ji Tan peeked out with just his eyes, gazing imploringly at the kind Mr. Xie. He had been a little embarrassed to ask, but remembering that this man still owed him two years of performance bonuses instantly hardened his heart beyond stone. "How about lending me a shoe, too?"

Xie Zhi wasn't angry. He merely raised a practical issue in a calm voice. "With one shoe each and both of us balancing on one leg, how are we supposed to run later?"

Their eyes met. Both fell silent.

At this awkward moment, Ji Tan couldn't stop his mind from wandering. He remembered a male lead in a TV drama explaining his predicament with difficulty: If I hold a blade, I can't hold you. If I put down the blade, I can't protect you.① At this very moment, in this very situation, Boss Xie, who wanted to take care of a fellow native but lacked clothes and provisions, could also say: If I wear my shoes, your feet freeze. If I take them off, I can't run with you.

But Boss Xie wasn't one for excuses. He always had a solution.

Xie Zhi gave it some serious thought. "How about this? We practiced running with our legs tied together at a company team-building event. We can do a three-legged race..."

"No, no need!" Ji Tan hurriedly refused. Although he hoped the scumbag would get his deserved punishment, he didn't want that punishment to be dying of laughter.

Xie Zhi pressed a fist to his lips and chuckled twice, then solemnly reached out, gripped Mushroom Ji under both armpits, and lifted him onto a raised platform to sit.

Not understanding what he was doing, Ji Tan pulled the jacket tighter around himself. The next second, he saw Boss Xie take out that expensive-looking pocket square and wipe the sole of his foot with it.

"What are you doing?" Startled, Ji Tan shrank back.

Xie Zhi held his ankle, its blue veins visible beneath the skin. His jaw tightened for an instant, then relaxed. Lowering his eyes, he said evenly, "Your brother would be heartbroken if he knew I wasn't giving you shoes to wear."

After those words, both of them fell silent.

Xie Zhi had actually been Ji Tan's older brother's college classmate and roommate. The two had been practically inseparable during college. When Ji Tan video-called his brother in high school, he would always see Xie Zhi passing through the background. He had been quite nice back then, sometimes even coming over to tease him. "Tantan, you have to call me big brother, too."

So when his brother suddenly passed away and this man invited him to work for him, saying he would look after him in his brother's place, Ji Tan agreed without a second thought. During the first year, Xie Zhi had genuinely treated him very well. His salary and bonuses far exceeded industry standards, and he granted his every request in other matters, too. Even a real older brother couldn't have done more. But in the second year, the man seemed to mutate, suddenly starting to rush projects and becoming stingy with money. Ji Tan guessed his capitalist nature had probably revealed itself and he could no longer keep up the act.

Xie Zhi's hands never stopped moving. He really did use that decorative pocket square to carefully wipe the grit and waterproofing sealant from the sole of his foot.

Ji Tan stopped moving, too, rubbing the back of his hand against his stinging nose. "My brother would really be heartbroken if he knew you'd withheld two years of my performance bonuses."

"Two years of performance bonuses?" Xie Zhi's grip tightened around his ankle as he looked up in disbelief.

"Don't play innocent. You personally rejected every one. It's all on record in the OA system." Ji Tan gave him no chance to argue. What, he thought he could pretend he hadn't done those things just because they'd crossed into another world? Not a chance! I, Ji Xiaotan, am not some magnanimous soul who lets bygones be bygones with a smile.

Trash capitalist, give me back my hard-earned money! Pah!

"Bastard..." Xie Zhi cursed quietly. The sound was a breath forced out after being pent up in his chest for a long time, like a trembling sigh.

"What did you say?" Ji Tan hadn't heard him clearly.

Suddenly, piercing sirens rang out downstairs. The police had arrived!

"There are actually police here?" Seated up high, Ji Tan could see what was happening below just by craning his neck. The police cars looked very familiar, red and blue lights flashing on their roofs. If the officers' uniforms hadn't been slightly different, he would have suspected this was a prank rather than transmigration.

The police quickly established what had happened and began dispersing the crowd, stretching a long yellow cordon below the hospital building.

Immediately afterward, a black helicopter flew in low. A powerful beam cut through the gloom of dusk and swept across the entire building. Someone in a silver uniform stood in the open helicopter cabin, gripping its edge with one hand and speaking through a loudspeaker. "Order Administration Bureau, TS Action Team! All Orderlies inside Huo Private Hospital, heed this order: lift all lockdowns immediately! I repeat, lift all lockdowns immediately!"

Orderlies.

He had heard that word again. Qiao Qiao, that first love from earlier, had also mentioned it upon seeing the two sides facing off. Ji Tan guessed this was probably the general term here for people with supernatural abilities. And those people in silver, stand-collared trench coats who looked like agents were probably the "special police" specifically responsible for these Orderlies.

It seemed this wasn't a hellish world where people with supernatural abilities could do whatever they pleased and ordinary lives were worth nothing.

"The lockdowns have been lifted." Xie Zhi sensed the fluctuations around them, then naturally held out a hand to Ji Tan. "Lend me your proposal."

"What for?" Ji Tan warily covered his lower back, making the jacket slip off one shoulder. Realizing he was still wearing the other man's jacket, he felt his ears warm. Upholding the traditional virtue of "accepting favors leaves you beholden," he reluctantly took out his last memento of Earth.

"Don't lose it."

"Don't worry."

The stack of A4 paper landed in Xie Zhi's hand and suddenly shone with golden light, rising into the air, its pages automatically turning until it lay open in the middle. The magnificent golden book fluttered its two wings slightly, like a hovering golden butterfly.

Xie Zhi rested his hand lightly on the book and said, "Opening doors is permitted here."

Bang! Almost simultaneously, the tottering iron door burst open, and several bodyguards tumbled onto the rooftop along with Huo Zhaixing.

Ji Tan stared at the scene, dumbfounded. The proposal has come to life!

"Ji Tan, get away from him! He's a monster!" Huo Zhaixing scrambled forward.

Ji Tan looked at Boss Xie, dressed in only a silk shirt and looking somewhat divine in the golden light, then at President Huo, down on all fours with a ferocious expression. He could judge for himself who looked more like a monster.

The golden book returned to Ji Tan's hands, becoming an ordinary stack of A4 paper again. Ji Tan wasn't disappointed. At least he had confirmed that this really was a cheat ability, and his anxiety over transmigrating instantly settled. Having a cheat was good. It meant he could switch his life in another world to easy mode.

Ji Tan hugged the proposal to his chest, his opinion of Xie Zhi improving just a little. This reincarnation of Grandet had actually kept his word and returned what he borrowed. What an honest young man.

Unlike a certain someone, who didn't forget to shout Overlord lines even while charging wildly forward. "Ji Tan, don't even think about escaping my grasp! If you run once, I'll chase you once! If you run a hundred times, I'll..."

"Tch."

The next second, that honest, kind young man jumped off the building with him in his arms.

"Aaaaaah! Xie Zhi, fuck your uncle!" The sudden weightlessness frightened Ji Tan so badly that his hair stood on end, and he let loose a long string of indiscriminate curses.

Utterly unconcerned by his abuse, Xie Zhi rolled over so Ji Tan was underneath him. Like a parachute pack that wouldn't open, he hooked his hands around the shoulders of the man in his arms, snapped his fingers, and said quickly, "Speeding is prohibited here for one minute. Speed limit: one mile per hour."

Their plummeting bodies abruptly slowed, descending at a steady speed in an almost floating posture. Ji Tan worked out the timing. One mile per hour was about 0.44 meters per second, and they had seven floors left, which meant the two of them would be floating in midair for nearly fifty seconds.

The police downstairs and the ambulance crews who had finished handing over their patients simply watched with their heads tilted back. One officer even remembered to remind the crowd, "No photos or videos. We won't compensate you for damaged equipment."

Ji Tan said numbly, "The police are here. We could've just taken the stairs."

Only now did he understand that Xie Zhi's original plan had been to wait out the ten minutes, jump down with him, and leave directly. But now that circumstances had changed, the man had jumped anyway! Mortified, Ji Tan turned to look at the culprit, wanting to know whether the man had any shame.

Only to discover that the bastard Xie Zhi had put on a black face mask at some point, covering his face so thoroughly that even his own mother might not recognize him. His Excellency the Archon's dignity had been preserved, leaving Ji Tan alone to spin through the air in humiliation.