He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Half a month has passed since Cui was parachuted into the Lower City Foundation as an "executive officer".

The girl still maintains the lifestyle she developed in the city, staying up late and waking up early, and relying on caffeine and stimulants to replenish her insufficient energy.

It also gave the lazy dogs in the lower town a real shock.

"Good morning, Mr. Cui."

With her hair disheveled, only her neatly dressed colleagues were washing up in the staff dormitory bathroom. Seeing Cui walk in, even though she looked exhausted, she looked up and greeted her.

"Good morning."

Cui smiled professionally, nodded slightly in response, and then went to fix her clothes in front of the mirror.

She met the gaze of the girl with emerald green eyes in the mirror.

The executive officer's uniform was something Cui had only ever seen on others before—the commuter style came in black and white, with indigo belts wrapped around the body and two rows of ivory-shaped buttons on both sides, making it less monotonous in color. The shoulders were supported outward with stiff braces, and even the women's version looked elegant and sophisticated.

So handsome...

No matter how many times she looked at it, Cui felt her throat go dry and couldn't help but swallow—the girl in the mirror who looked so dashing and energetic was herself.

-And it's so beautiful.

Not long ago, with the help of her senior, this body was reborn from the ashes, and the quality of her skin returned to that of when she first graduated. Combined with her already youthful and delicate appearance, she became even more beautiful and lovely... In fact, Cui felt that she was starting a new round of growth. Her height and bust, which had stopped growing three years ago, were eager to move again, as if there were signs of a second development.

Great!

Cui carefully buttoned up her collar, and greeted the new day with an air of arrogance.

.

.

A lot has happened in the Countermeasures Bureau recently, some big and some small—the most troublesome of all... is the grand ceremony that affected the entire hive city half a month ago.

On the surface, the Foundation still demonstrated the strength of Hallownest's leadership, shattering a magnificent sun in the pool and preventing its power from completely sinking into the mortal world, thus successfully maintaining its authority in the mystical realm.

But only the insiders in charge of the aftermath know the extent of their losses: first, the various protocols that went offline at the last minute, and the physical repair of the structure alone was a huge project; the Hume Tree, which was overloaded with computing power, was also somewhat sluggish, with a large number of tree roots broken off, and it was unknown how long it would take to grow back in the pool.

Then... a single extermination order drained the city of its hard-earned "secret essence" reserves accumulated over half a year, and crucially, the spoils of war were directly stolen.

The person in charge of the grand ceremony ate and took things as if they were at a buffet, holding up a sun in front of the foundation: "This thing is too big for me to digest. Can you chop it up a bit and make it into a sauce... I want to take it home and make wontons."

Hey, the foundation actually chopped up the sun and put it in water to make a pot of super nourishing soup—which ended up in people's stomachs!

Chun Chun is just freeloading off the foundation's labor.

This secret about being taken advantage of is something only insiders should know; it absolutely cannot be revealed—it's too embarrassing…

After taking this blow head-on, a host of troublesome issues arose: although the biggest impact had been absorbed by the grand ceremony itself, the portion that overflowed from the red pool was still a problem.

Recently, all hospitals in the city have been overloaded, especially the ophthalmology department, which is completely full. Even residents who have had prosthetic eyeballs replaced are suffering from "photo-erosion" symptoms to varying degrees. They cannot live in bright environments for long periods of time, otherwise, a burn-like light and shadow will appear on their pupils, which cannot be dispelled even at night.

All of this stemmed from that magnificent catastrophe that gave birth to brilliance.

.

.

With her head held high and chest out, Cui strode into the Countermeasures Bureau's gate. A name tag with three and a half ten-pointed stars gleamed on her chest—a symbol of her "Executive Director" status, three ranks higher than her previous "Trainee Agent" rank.

Even within the entire Countermeasures Bureau, this is considered a truly "high-level unit," capable of even drawing upon Hume Tree's assistance in critical moments.

-I am such a big shot now...

Cui felt a strong sense of unreality, even though she had been officially employed for half a month.

Just because of such attention... looking back, it's all from my student days.

- Have I finally... caught up with that guy's pace a little bit?

Although she obtained her current authority and position through a backdoor appointment (i.e., by bypassing her superiors), Cui still felt a long-lost sense of confidence rising within her.

Why did Director Thiev take a liking to me and grant me special privileges...? Did she see my abilities?

I'm going to prove that Cui is definitely no worse than that guy!

The transformed young woman strolled along the spacious corridor of the Countermeasures Bureau headquarters. Although the atmosphere in the lower city wasn't as chaotic, the nature of her job had made many people accustomed to "working early."

As dawn broke, the place already looked bustling with activity.

As employees pass by, most will greet Cui Dao with a "good morning"—the workplace environment here is more inclined to "lick" than "cozy," which can be summarized as cliques running rampant and bureaucracy prevailing.

The staff here are all "official personnel" who can establish themselves in the foundation, so everyone is very skilled at "flattering" each other, especially in finding targets.

As a special appointee, and an executive officer directly parachuted in from the upper city, Cui quickly became the focus of everyone's attention. Not long ago, everyone was busy dealing with the derivative events of the Great Calamity and was overwhelmed. Now that they have a little more free time, some small groups of people who "eagerly seek progress" have begun to gather around Cui.

After all, in their eyes, Cui was a "struggling young lady" who had come down from the upper city to gain experience.

"Mr. Cui, how old are you this year?"

Cui vaguely remembered hearing this question several times, but out of politeness, she answered softly, "Seventeen years old..."

Wow...so young!

A formulaic exclamation is followed by a formulaic praise.

At first, Cui was simply enjoying herself. The feeling of being the center of attention always brings a sense of indulgence, especially when you are in an unfamiliar environment. As soon as you arrive, you are surrounded and lifted up by everyone. The girl naturally turns the whole environment into her own comfort zone.

However, during her two weeks in the lower city, Cui would sometimes feel a strange sense of crisis—like a snake lurking in a cave, baring its fangs and emitting a sweet, fishy smell.

She suddenly woke up with a start.

-Slightly...don't get so carried away.

Cui shook her head vigorously, remembering that she also had responsibilities, so she quickened her pace slightly, chuckling awkwardly as she escaped from the crowd surrounding her, "I have something to do..."

.

Just as she took a step to leave, a sudden commotion arose ahead.

The employees who were originally jogging in the corridors slowed down to varying degrees, and some even stood aside to watch.

Cui tilted her head slightly, and her ingrained habit made her naturally step aside and obediently stand to the side.

-Is some important person here?

.

Soon, two slender figures appeared at the end of the corridor. They were not moving fast, or rather, the one walking behind them was walking very slowly, which slowed down the former as well, so they had to accompany him in the corridor and be watched by the crowd.

As more and more eyes gathered around, the girl walking in front spoke softly.

"Can you hurry up?"

"Mr. Wei, I'm an energy-saving advocate who enjoys sleep. At this hour, even self-disciplined machines are getting sleepy, let alone humans..."

The gray-eyed, black-haired boy dragged his limp body, his legs practically wriggling without bones—he was clearly not awake, his messy hair making him look listless, and his pupils, which were covered by glasses, were mostly obscured by the reflection of light, so small that they were almost invisible.

"Humans can't get up at six o'clock, except for high school students... Me? I'm not a high school student anymore. I've been recruited by you guys and am now a brand new, worn-out corporate slave."

The boy yawned, took off his glasses, wiped the sticky tears from the corners of his eyes, and looked around: "Why are all these guys staring at us?"

"Because we're both celebrities now..."

Veltin sighed, gripped Ai's arm tightly, and quickened his pace silently. "There's still a lot of trouble ahead. I need to check on your nutrition before dawn."

They walked through the crowd, paying no attention to the onlookers, and headed in one direction...

.

"Inspector Cui, have you heard?"

Someone leaned closer to Cui and whispered, "The former head of the Executive Department, Inspector Velding—that's the one. I heard she crawled out alive from the very heart of that massive disaster..."

Without immediately noticing Cui's expression, the gossipmonger failed to notice the girl's dazed expression and continued, "I heard that... before this disaster occurred, Wei Sir had already used his ultimate authority as an executive officer, disregarding his career, and forcibly called for support from Hume Tree, giving the higher-ups more time to react, which prevented the disaster from spiraling out of control."

"So... after Wei Sir was brought back to the Foundation, she went to Uptown to conduct an investigation as soon as she recovered. She only returned to Downtown today. I heard that the committee is very satisfied with her performance and may even promote her to the decision-making level regardless of her seniority..."

Gossip is the most active medium for humans to transmit information. After saying all this, the junior employee clicked his tongue and said, "Tsk, the youngest decision-making body in history. Maybe they'll be called Minister Wei in the future... I'm so envious."

"Unfortunately, this big shot is ridiculously arrogant and basically ignores everyone. She's also a young lady from Uptown, and none of us can get close to her—Do you know her, Officer Cui?"

- Of course I know him.

Cui gave a wry smile unintentionally, lowering her head to hide the sadness in her eyes. Her head trembled slightly, making it impossible to tell whether she was nodding or shaking her head.

Even with privileges... I still can't stand on the same level as you?

The girl took a deep breath, held it in her throat, and didn't exhale for a long time.

She didn't know how she felt right now.

On her very first day in Downtown, the Foundation was struck by a once-in-a-century catastrophe. Cui, whose personnel file had not yet been handed over, was stuck in the onboarding process and was not assigned any tasks. She thus escaped the epicenter of the disaster.

Perhaps it was good luck.

In the two weeks since she started working here, Cui has been trying to find traces of Virtue's presence, but the responses she has received are all malicious comments such as "weirdo," "arrogant," and "always wearing a sour face, I don't know who he's trying to impress."

At that time, she would feel a strange "pleasure," a kind of unreasonable pleasure—as if hearing someone say bad things about Virtue would give her a sense of comfort: that once brilliant and dazzling genius did not seem so glamorous after all.

But only when she saw that silver-haired girl again could Cui remember her features—she was someone who was forever isolated on the high platform, looking down on all living beings with eyes heavier and more solid than amber, mocking the world's humility and compromise.

Her eyes remained arrogant and sharp, her life as vibrant and captivating as a rose.

The environment did not change her.

-very nice.

Cui thought to herself.

"Unlike me."

She doesn't need to be swept along... the path beneath her feet becomes the road.

Cui suddenly looked up from the shadows.

Only when she saw that figure again did the girl vaguely understand part of the knot in her heart. At this moment, she was tasting her own contradictions, and her heart, which had been numbed by snake venom for years, finally came alive again.

Cui made the bravest move of her life.

"Vildin!"

She bowed slightly to the two people walking towards her a few steps away, then took a step forward and stood in their path with a dignified and unassuming demeanor.

"Wei...Wei sir..."

The girl stopped in front of her as promised. Cui felt her breath mixed with the scorching heat of magma. Her vision was fogging up, and her blurred vision made it almost impossible to see the face so close to hers.

His voice trembled slightly, but he still managed to squeeze it out: "Mr. Wei, I'm the new... executive officer. I've heard from many people that you're very capable... In order to be competent in this position, I hope to learn from... no, I'd like to beg you... to learn some details about the work. Do you have time?"

Cui's heart pounded wildly in her throat, and the girl let out a silent cry of anguish:

- Can you... recognize me?

The reality is quite jarring.

Virtue's gaze lingered on the person in front of him for only a moment before he gave a standard professional smile: "Sorry, I'm very busy right now."

Unlike Cui's coyness, and without waiting for her response, Virtin pulled Ai up again after saying those words and walked forward without looking back.

-So it failed after all...?

A moment of courage might lead to a lifetime of introversion. Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, Cui suppressed the stinging in her nose, lowered her head to cover her reddened eyes, and whispered, "Sorry to bother you..."

That's right. How could someone like me possibly leave a mark in the eyes of someone as radiant as the rising sun?

.

"etc……"

Wait again?

Cui felt like she had heard those two words for the third time, and she shuddered as if in response. The next second, she saw the gray-eyed boy who had been being dragged protest.

"Officer, they're so sincerely trying to get in with you, how can you be so heartless?"

Ai struggled to get up, and her uncooperative actions forced Veltin to stop in place. She glared at the guy, but there was nothing she could do.

Although it doesn't resemble a fox, the fox hasn't forgotten its ability to take advantage of others.

"Take her in... She's such a pitiful little girl, she looks like she doesn't know anyone here, she's very likely to be bullied in the workplace!"

While whispering in Virtue's ear, he also winked at Cui, "I happen to need someone to serve tea... no, I mean, I need a reliable colleague. Why don't you help her out?"

He's just an executive... does he really need your help?

That's what they say, but when it comes to Ai Yi, the completely restrained Wei Sir really can't put up any real resistance.

She sighed softly, "Figure it out yourself."

"Yay!"

While clapping, Ai looked at the girl standing there dumbfounded and winked at her through her glasses: "Welcome to our Miss Wei's fan club! From now on, I'm the president, and you'll be my left protector!"

"Eh..."

Cui tilted her head blankly, looking both foolish and obedient.

-This doesn't make sense, does it?

Who is this guy?

Many questions completely overwhelmed her already overloaded brain, making it difficult for Cui to think. After Ai blinked again, a faint glint of light appeared in her gray eyes, and in the next instant, Cui simply gave up thinking.

She followed.

The boy gave a fox-like smile.

-I discovered a vessel, just like my former self, riddled with holes—such a good guinea pig, it would be such a waste to let it go.

A confused young girl... You are weak and lack courage, yearning for change yet feeling incredibly inferior.

Your fulcrum is teetering on the brink of collapse.

But it's okay!

Ai shook her invisible tail.

Super Fox will heal you!