All in all, we got 5,500 yuan

The sound‍⁠‌‍⁠⁠‍‍‌‌​​‌⁠​​‌‌‍​⁠‌⁠‌ of quick, clear swallowing repeated was constant on the phone.

An Yu took big bites of the cream cake in his hand.

The soft cake required no chewing and slid smoothly down his throat, entirely delicately wrapped in cream.

Qin Zhilu said, “Jiang Xiao mentioned that your strength is increasing rapidly.”

An Yu suddenly choked.

—Jiang Xiao was his physical training instructor, selected by Qin Zhilu himself without prior notice to him.

An Yu, who originally planned to slack off, almost exploded the moment he stepped into the gym.

Recalling the events of the past few days, An Yu solemnly said, “He’s a lunatic.”

He finally understood what it meant to be a workaholic—This aberrant coach had no idea he was dealing with a fragile human, relentlessly adding more weight plates every day. The worst part was, when An Yu was on the brink of being crushed by the barbell, Jiang Xiao whispered in his ear, “Your slender limbs are truly beautiful when they flex out.”

An Yu was rendered speechless by his sick attitude and, despite the muscle-tearing pain, continued his exercises with a blank expression.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Xiao’s eyes grew even more intense. “Your pale complexion reminds me of the Advent Day; it’s truly an unforgettable sight.”

Gritting his teeth, An Yu muttered, “Could you please shut up?”

As soon as he said it, those red eyes nearly trembled.

Jiang Xiao breathed heavily, “You’re truly…”

An Yu held his forehead, “Sir, I really know I was wrong. Please, I beg you, give me a different coach.”

Qin Zhilu’s voice was calm, “What did you do wrong?”

On the day the Commanders had a meeting, An Yu had put the stuffed octopus toy at the mall’s recycling station.

What he didn’t expect was that the recycling station was only accessible to the purchaser, so the system directly refunded 9,099 points back to Qin Zhilu’s account.

—It was the night before Qin Zhilu’s mission. An Yu had been practicing the good luck phrases that Zhu Tao taught him to say before his commander left when Qin Zhilu knocked on his door holding that octopus.

It was a memory too painful to recall.

An Yu’s gaze became unfocused. “Zhu Tao said that once you accept someone’s heartfelt gesture, you’re promising to treasure it. So, giving away or returning a gift is impolite.”

“Mm.”

An Yu stared blankly at the bakery ceiling. “I’m really sorry; Ling Qiu never taught me that.”

Qin Zhilu’s tone was calm, “So how do you plan to make up for it?”

An Yu followed Zhu Tao’s advice, “I’m planning to bake a bread for you with my own hands, so when you return from your mission, you can eat it. How about that?”

Qin Zhilu didn’t explicitly agree, but his cold tone seemed to soften a bit. “How’s business going at the new shop?”

An Yu remained silent for a moment.

“On the first day, we got 50,000 yuan.” He paused, “In total, we only made 50,000.”

The empty shop only had him and Xu Shuangshuang inside.

Xu Shuangshuang had already given up and was lying on a chair with a facial mask on and playing with her phone.

The business on opening day was actually pretty good. The old brand had already garnered some attention, and a post by Xu Shuangshuang on social media about “wasteland-style bread” went mildly viral, with several types of bread selling out early.

But soon after, competitors and convenience store cakes all around them started advertising with the slogan “Exclusive to the Main City.”

An Yu hadn’t even figured out what was happening before the shop’s business went cold. From morning until now, no customers had walked in.

“I’m taste-testing bread from other shops.” An Yu picked up another piece of the sweet Napoleon cake. “Do Main City people really need cream to survive?”

Qin Zhilu mused, “Butter, cream, cheese—these things are only supplied to the Main City. People need something to constantly remind themselves they’re from the Main City, that they endure high pressure for a reason, all in exchange for the best resources.”

An Yu didn’t understand Main City people.

He hung up the phone and checked online, finding that only the Huang Group still made these complex dairy products. The owner was a man in his forties, with vast family assets and a high reputation, who donated huge sums every year for famine relief in Bait Cities and to fund Brain research.

The unified slogan “Exclusive to the Main City” had been proposed by Boss Huang himself. As the raw material supplier, it quickly spread across all the dessert shops in the city.

Xu Shuangshuang put down her phone, “Do you know what we’re like?”

An Yu replied lifelessly, “What?”

“A loach trying to shake a dragon. We’ve just poked our heads out of the mud, thinking the world would embrace us, only to be stomped back into the dirt by the dragon.” Xu Shuangshuang grabbed a loaf of the Corner signature bread and scanned the QR code to pay. “Since there’s no business, can I take three days off?”

Despite her complaints, Xu Shuangshuang was now the only “customer.”

An Yu sighed, “Take as many days as you want.”

Xu Shuangshuang smiled and put her hands together in gratitude, “Thank you, boss.”

When Yan Xi came to pick up An Yu and take him back to the Spire, An Yu was carefully placing the freshly mixed Polish yeast starter into the refrigerator.

Yan Xi was surprised and said, “Law won’t be back for several days, and you’re starting this already?”

“Maddie said that Polish fermentation is a science. It might take a few tries to get it right,” An Yu replied, setting a 16-hour timer on his terminal.

As he logged out, he accidentally glanced at his empty account balance and couldn’t help but sigh.

After investing 55 million with Xu Shuangshuang, his old financial anxieties had returned, prompting him to occasionally check the ‘Mission Recruitment Hall’—though he didn’t want to risk his life for money, just looking at those reward points could also relieve his greed.

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Such phenomena was as common as the snowstorm outside the Dome, and it was difficult to connect them to the disappearances. High Peak had initially planned to ignore the situation, but with the rising social media popularity of the Koi Religion in District 84, these cases had finally reached a tipping point in public opinion.

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From his observations, the system never assigned solo missions.

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Yan Xi hesitated briefly. “I suppose it’s okay to tell you. The Spire currently has five Commanders, but besides Law, the other four are high-level aberrants who appeared in recent years. In fact, there should be nine high-level officers—the four others, like Law, were among the first generation of aberrants and left when the Spire was first established. They have a strained relationship with the High Peak and whenever they face an invasion of aberrants that they can’t handle, they will only ask Law for help. Law never uses the Spire resources and always goes alone.”

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“First generation… When did the Commander become distorted?” An Yu wondered.

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An Yu asked, “When did they leave?”

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Yan Xi smiled. “It’s normal you don’t know about this. It was ten years ago, and you were what, eight years old back then?”

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An Yu explained, “They thought my excessive sleepiness was a mutation.”

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Yan Xi nearly choked. “So how long did you sleep before you were eight?”

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Yan Xi became serious. “It seems the rumors are true; you are indeed quite abnormal.”

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An Yu asked, “Has Brain given up studying me? Weren’t they saying there are many paradoxes about me?”

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“After you returned from District 53, High Peak wanted the Brain to restart the tests with real aberrant genes, to see how many abilities they could awaken in you.”

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An Yu stared out the window for a while before suddenly remembering something else. “Sir seemed very tired the days I was asleep. What was he doing?”

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Before going to bed, he messaged Xu Shuangshuang to ask: How much did we make today?

Xu Shuangshuang instantly replied: Just started my vacation. Don’t bother me.

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His terminal was filled with messages from Jiang Xiao.

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He went to the dining hall to get a plate of bread and ate breakfast while waiting for Xu Shuangshuang to reply.

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Zhao Ran, who Flame had his eye on, entered the Spire two days ago but had yet to make an appearance.

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– Boss, the Polish starter in the fridge has over-fermented. When did you put it in?

“…”

An Yu sighed and helplessly replied: Sorry, I slept for a few days. Please make a new batch.

– Got it. Where’s Shuangshuang? Isn’t she supposed to be back at work today?

She’s not back yet?

An Yu, puzzled, called Xu Shuangshuang—no signal.

He suddenly had a bad feeling. Could Xu Shuangshuang have run off with the money?

An Yu quickly called Maddie, “Have you been in touch with Xu Shuangshuang these past few days?”

“No,” Maddie lowered her voice. “Isn’t she in District 84 praying for her future child’s genetic entropy? I didn’t want to disturb her.”

“Oh… no wonder there’s no signal.” An Yu breathed a sigh of relief. “She should be on her way back.”

He hung up and refreshed the mission hall page, only to find that the stubborn mission had changed.

The mission’s reward level had been upgraded from D to C. The description was also updated—

An Yu’s vision darkened.

“55 million…” He sighed, exhausted, “Xu Shuangshuang…”

After the mission was updated, the forum was filled with posts from Intelligence Protectors trying to form teams.

– Is there a healer willing to take on a mission? You can just relax while I handle the simple parts. The main thing is to meet the system’s team requirements. Please, I’m begging a healer to consider joining me.

There were dozens of similar posts, but unfortunately, the proud healers ignored them.

An Yu silently prayed for someone to save Xu Shuangshuang, spending a morning in anxiety. However, by lunchtime, no one had accepted the mission. Staring at his account balance that had just lost 55 million, he hesitated for a moment before lightly tapping the screen.

– System notification: The Protector “Corner” has applied for the mission [District 84’s Koi Religion Cleanup]! The high-level authority auto-leadership rule has been triggered, making you the captain!

As the notification appeared, other Protectors were puzzled as to why this big-shot, who had sworn never to take on missions, suddenly showed up. The system then issued a few more notifications.

– Ladder No.945 Protector Jiang Xiao has joined the team!

– Corner has removed Jiang Xiao from the team.

– Corner has changed the mission participation method to “Captain’s Approval Only,” with a note: “Healers only.”

After a brief silence—

– High-level Protector Zhu Tao applied to join the team (Note: I’m fully recovered).

– High-level Protector An applied to join the team (Note: The highest single-target healer in the Spire).

– High-level Protector Ning applied to join the team (Note: Balanced in both healing and mind, can stabilize An’s emotions).

– According to Spire rules, An and Ning must join the team together.

Before An Yu could understand what it meant for them to “join the team together,” his terminal began vibrating wildly as dozens of notifications flooded in:

– Ladder No.14 Protector Chu Chen applied to join the team (Note: Capable of both CC and healing, willing to exhaust all energy).

– Ladder No.27 Protector Blair applied to join the team (Note: Will not fall behind, will strictly guard the HP line).

– Ladder No.52 Protector Feng Jian Tenyu applied to join the team (Note: Can set up blood warehouses and provide early warnings, accepts any minimum life value setting).

– Ladder…

All the healers in the Spire swarmed in.

An Yu’s personal homepage refreshed, and a new label fell from the sky:

“Healer Magnet.”

An Yu: “…”