I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Five o'clock in the afternoon, at the school gate.

Bertias was greeted by Mu Yin, who arrived as promised.

“It is indeed on time.” Bertias glanced at Mu Yin with a complicated expression.

Mu Yin said irritably, "Just say you don't want me to be on time."

School ends at 5 p.m., and it normally takes five minutes to walk from the teaching building to the school gate. Bertias was hoping he would be late so he could leave him behind.

"Let's go." Bertias didn't intend to continue arguing with Mu Yin, and simply said this before turning to leave.

"Tell me about your plans and schedule first, so I can cooperate with you," Mu Yin asked as he followed.

"Let's start from the beginning. The black market requires a code and proof, and attending the auction requires an invitation to the auction. Given that the auction starts at 7 p.m. tonight, it's too late to get an invitation now, and we only have less than two hours. So let's focus on getting the code and proof to secure our entry into the black market first."

"Let's not talk about the code for now, since it's just verbal. We can deal with it later. The most important thing is the proof."

"Paper documents are the most troublesome."

"There isn't much information about the black market, and the entrance is extremely well-hidden and hard to find. It changes almost every so often, not to mention the existence of coded messages. However, industries that may be openly related to the black market can be actually investigated."

"We're heading to one of them now, which is also the closest stronghold to us, 'Night Banquet'."

"That doesn't sound like a very respectable place," Mu Yin frowned, thinking to himself.

"You could say it's not exactly respectable, but it's not exactly respectable either. Although there aren't any messy adult activities, the nightclub is exclusively for women. To be precise, it only caters to female guests; it's a male escort nightclub."

Bertias paused, turned around to look at Mu Yin's expression, and sure enough, the latter's face darkened.

"So...you mean...dressing as a woman?" Mu Yin looked at Bertias with disbelief. He never expected this guy to be so reckless.

However, Mu Yin himself did not have any aversion to women's clothing. He just felt that skirts had no advantages other than being pretty and were very inconvenient to move around in. But he had no aversion to any kind of clothing, so it didn't really matter what he wore.

Whether he cross-dresses or not isn't really important. What he finds unbelievable is that Bertias would actually go all out and choose to cross-dress, even though he usually hates being mistaken for a girl.

“It’s just you.” Bertias gave Mu Yin a look that said, ‘You’re overthinking it.’

"If you don't go, how will I know what to do?"

"Someone will meet you."

"I don't trust myself, and I don't trust anyone else."

The implication is, 'I only trust you.'

Bertias looked at Mu Yin, who returned Bertias's gaze with a self-righteous air.

Three seconds later...

"I understand," Bertias said with a cold face.

It's unclear whether he agreed or disagreed with that statement, but in the end, the two of them stood together in dresses at the entrance of the magnificent banquet hall.

With a cold expression, Bertias took the lead and walked forward. Just as the security guard at the door was about to stop him, he slightly raised his hand, revealing a gold card between his fingers.

Upon seeing the card, the security guard quickly took two steps back and respectfully ushered the two inside.

"Two distinguished guests on the 8th floor!"

At the entrance, servants respectfully greeted guests, but despite there being only ten people, it looked as if hundreds of others were crowding around them.

In the elevator, Mu Yin couldn't help but ask, "Where did you get the card?"

“I borrowed her from a colleague at the agency. That girl is a regular at Night Banquet. I only found out about Night Banquet when I was doing a background check on her,” Beltias said.

This made it sound like Bertias held a high position within the Strange Phenomenon Society, but since Mu Yin had no intention of joining, he didn't ask any further questions.

The two entered a private room. The waiter asked them what they would like to order, and Bertias replied that anything was fine.

After a while, someone knocked on the door.

"May I come inside?"

The voice was very neutral, but somewhat familiar.

Then a long-haired boy with a ponytail, dressed in a black and white suit, walked in.

He casually tossed the menu to Bertias and grinned at the two of them, "Surprised?"

Although the face is somewhat gender-ambiguous, it is easy to tell who the person is.

Isn't this Cang Shi, who took leave from school today?

"Is this the interview you were talking about?" Mu Yin asked, puzzled.

"Nobody starts working on their first day after an interview. This is just a temporary job I've been doing before," Cang Shi said, shaking his head indifferently.

So, what exactly is your gender?

"Well, that's a secret," Cang Shi said with a smile to Mu Yin.

Mu Yin: "..."

Mu Yin looked at Bertias, "You knew all along? So the person I was in contact with was Cang Shi?"

“The contact person I arranged was not Cang Shi,” Bertias denied.

"I'm just working here temporarily today, it's related to an interview," Cang Shi explained. "I've always lived my daily life as a girl, but I plan to debut as a man. That way, I can completely separate myself from the real person, and daily life will be more convenient. In order to make myself more like a man, I came here to observe men."

"Let's put that aside for now and see what set meal we'd like to order. I recommend the most expensive one, would you like two?"

"Shouldn't it be one copy?"

There are two of you.

"You even swindled Bertias's money."

“One person’s money is money, and two people’s money is also money. I take 50%, so it’s just one share for both of us,” Cang Shi said with particular self-righteousness.

"Don't ask, it's good stuff, I don't usually tell just anyone." Cang Shi smiled mysteriously.

"Most people can't afford it either," Mu Yin said irritably.

"Can we go to the third basement level?" Bertias asked.

Cang Shi straightened his expression and said seriously to Bertias, "Don't go, seal it off. There was a traitor, I just dealt with him."

"So that's why you stepped in temporarily, right?"

Cang Shichao Bertias nodded.

"Where is it?"

"Martial law is in effect. We just received news five minutes ago that some goods have been stolen. If nothing unexpected happens, this auction will have to be canceled."

"It's quite a coincidence that the stolen item is exactly the key you wanted," Cang Shi said to Mu Yin.

Cang Shi glanced at his phone, which had just lit up.

Mu Yin frowned, but before he could say anything, Cang Shi said, "I just received news that the banquet hall's gates were sealed off just a minute ago. Congratulations, the thief is right here at the banquet hall. Want to come with me to catch him?"

"As a male escort," Cang Shi said with a smile. (End of Chapter)