Zheng Fan ran off after delivering his harsh words. He had only sensed Lin Yilin's emotional fluctuations, which was why he came to check, and as expected, he ran into Luo Ye.
However, they didn't exchange many words because they were about to enter Rafael School District. He probably couldn't cross into the White World, and forcibly entering would cause more trouble if he triggered the White World's alert, so he retreated.
In the car, Lin Yilin recovered.
She blinked and said, "So that's how it is. Since Mr. Illusion has already spoken for me, there's nothing more for me to add. Let's see the real results in action, Ye-jie."
Luo Ye smiled and said, "That's not bad either. Let's set it for June 31st."
"Mm," Lin Yilin replied nonchalantly.
Hong Yijia clapped softly.
Soon, the car arrived at Lin Yilin's home. Luo Ye glanced at it: "Wow, it looks pretty good. Small and cozy. Yilin, your taste is truly unique. Though I personally still prefer large estates."
"What would I do with a large estate living alone? And I don't have that much money," Lin Yilin said, speechless.
"Just hire a few servants and housekeepers. If you want, I can give you one. I still have three estates under my name anyway. Real-world assets are of limited use to me, except as weapons."
"Ye-jie, rich lady, take me with you!" Hong Yijia quickly leaned forward.
"You're a young lady from the Processing Bureau; what are you pretending for? Go play somewhere else."
"No thanks. My current life is good. I'm not from the same world as you, Ye-jie," Lin Yilin still chose to refuse.
The atmosphere among them immediately returned to the beginning, as if the previous arguments and tension had been just a joke.
"How much food did you buy?" Luo Ye asked.
"Sorry, you showed up without a word. We only bought enough for two people. There's nothing we can do if you want some," Lin Yilin pulled open the shopping bag and glanced inside.
"Didn't you buy any household staples? Oh dear~, don't be like that. There should be a supermarket near your home, right!" Luo Ye wailed, sprawled over the steering wheel.
"Yes, but that supermarket's quality is average; it's useless except for convenience," Lin Yilin replied indifferently. It was somewhat ironic that a supermarket in the School District would be of lower quality than one in the Grey District.
"I'll order takeout on my phone," Luo Ye held up one finger.
"It would be too much of a buzzkill if we cook and you order takeout. Let's wait for next time," Hong Yijia interjected.
Finally, Lin Yilin and Hong Yijia got out of the car, leaving the lonely Luo Ye, whose face was turning a grayish red, slumped in the driver's seat.
"After so many years, can't we even share a meal?" she struggled one last time.
"Next time you come, remember to call ahead," Lin Yilin and Hong Yijia said as they turned and went home.
...
When Zheng Fan returned to the Office, Toast was panting, the instruction manual was covered in Toast crumbs, and a majestic, exquisite taboo stood tall on the ground beside it.
"My goodness, Perfect Toast, you are truly amazing!" Zheng Fan couldn't help but exclaim.
"Owooh~," Toast took a few steps, its short legs suddenly gave out, and all its features shrunk, returning to its normal Perfect Toast mode, entering hibernation.
Zheng Fan gently picked it up and stroked it: "You worked hard."
Perfect Toast wiggled a bit but ultimately chose not to get up.
Lu Lu Shoes watched from the side, deeply shocked.
From almost going crazy and tearing up the instructions to assembling the model in just an hour or so...
Perfect Toast's high status wasn't without reason. This was the difference between them, something it needed to learn from.
Zheng Fan put on a pair of black gloves he bought with his property ability.
This was how he, in his Illusion state, could touch real objects, but to be honest, it was very uncomfortable. Even if he could control the gloves, touching things with them felt like touching water.
There was a sensation, but it was blurry, shapeless, and hard to grasp. His strength was also quite weak, like a child's; he couldn't even arm wrestle a child.
According to the child Lin Yilin found to test, arm wrestling with his glove was like bouncing a ball—it had texture but no real resistance.
However, it was passable for slightly moving things now.
He picked up the taboo, admiring it from all angles, and the more he looked, the more satisfied he became.
No wonder that woman liked this so much. Someone whose hobby is touched really can't help but be tempted by such high-quality toys.
His reasons for not losing had increased.
...
A few days later, the date arrived at June 30th.
During these days, Lin Yilin handled a few more small commissions. Hong Yijia became an unlisted employee of the Zero One Office. Why unlisted? Because Processing Bureau personnel were forbidden from joining the Office.
Luo Ye hadn't visited since then, and no one knew what she was doing.
Hong Yijia's work ability was very strong, much stronger than Zheng Fan, who was useless except for being a stand-in. She even excitedly took over the work of Lin Yilin's management studio.
According to this extraordinary young lady, her lifelong wish was to be a gangster once, and one item on her wish list had been fulfilled.
Leaving aside why a young lady from the Processing Bureau would have a wish to be a gangster, Zheng Fan had to declare to her that this was someone else's Office studio, not a gang!
Under Lin Yilin's arrangements, everyone strived to be good neighborhood residents, taking legitimate jobs, mainly dealing with black-on-black activities and then legitimizing the black, while also managing internal conflicts within the Office.
Who said this studio was shady? This studio was too healthy.
Of course, Hong Yijia couldn't hear what Zheng Fan said. Finally, because he had nothing to do, Zheng Fan went out for a stroll in broad daylight.
He directly transferred himself to Jiang Si's location through their connection.
But during the day, Jiang Si was in a dormant state, lying like a homeless person in a damp corner of an unfinished building, looking extremely easy to pick up.
Then, just as Zheng Fan was about to go up and give her a good kick in the butt, the entire room was pierced and covered by her red threads. Only then did she groggily wake up and realize it was Zheng Fan who had come.
Well, this "corpse" was really hard to pick up; it was too prickly.
"Why are you here during the day, Mr. Evil? Aren't you afraid of sunlight?" Jiang Si yawned, her eyes still heavy with sleep.
"I'm not a vampire. Doesn't sleeping face down make you uncomfortable?" Zheng Fan said.
"Hah-hoo~, it's fine. I can survive without air, and the feeling of suffocation improves my sleep quality," Jiang Si said, then lay back down.
Zheng Fan: Do you even know what you're saying?
"Come back tonight~, Mr. Evil. People need regular routines," Jiang Si, enveloped by drowsiness, showed a surprisingly soft side.
"You, a nocturnal person, are saying this? Sigh, never mind." Zheng Fan was speechless and suddenly kicked Jiang Si's butt.
The feeling was as elastic as her appearance. Nice, he wanted to kick her again.
Under Jiang Si's perfunctory cries, Zheng Fan decided not to transfer back to the Zero One Office but instead ran out to wander aimlessly.
His location was near Jin Yun Road in Xixikeke. It seemed that after dealing with Lu Lu, Jiang Si hadn't been running around much lately. She really wasn't afraid of being investigated; the search efforts for her in Xixikeke had been quite intense recently.
However, with Jiang Si's metaphysical hiding ability, it probably didn't matter.
Jin Yun Road in Xixikeke had a relatively high level of public safety because, a certain distance past Jin Yun Road, was Jiyun District. The stability of the White District had somewhat radiated into this area.
Twisting red threads into a rope and pretending to be a hanged ghost on a streetlamp when he had nothing to do was one of Zheng Fan's solitary pastimes.
Maybe someone would see him, the hanged ghost?
Zheng Fan wore a black top hat, a gold-rimmed monocle, grew a small curly mustache, had a rope tied securely around his neck, his tongue hanging out, eyes rolled back, swaying under the streetlamp, lifeless.
The place he hung was a pedestrian street, so people came and went, but unfortunately, no one paid attention to his superb performance.
Bang!
A gunshot suddenly rang out on the pedestrian street. The crowd skillfully scattered and fled, maintaining distance, adults taking care of accompanying children to avoid stampede accidents.
To be honest, order had been relatively peaceful recently, and for someone to dare to fire a gun in public on Jin Yun Road was somewhat asking for trouble.
Zheng Fan just swung around, still hanging, to check the situation.
But as soon as he turned, he saw an unexpected scene.
Familiar red hair fluttered as Luo Ye stretched her long legs and kicked the person who had just fired the gun, sending him flying. She was also holding a child.
The child's face was filled with terror and bewilderment, clearly scared senseless.
The kicked person flew horizontally, crashed through a wall on the side of the street, and went silent, but soon several more people appeared in the crowd, pulling out firearms, either aiming at Luo Ye or at the fleeing pedestrians.
Even more people pulled open their thick coats, revealing bombs underneath.
"I thought it was a gang shootout, but it turns out to be a terrorist attack," Zheng Fan muttered.
