He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 70: Another quiet season has arrived.

"Name?"

"Eileen".

"age?"

"17".

"gender"

"Male, wait a minute—isn't something wrong?" Ai coughed twice, her eyes glazed over. "I just came to make up for a missed day, why does this feel like an interrogation? Aren't we colleagues?"

It's not that I want to make things difficult for you.

The HR lady across the table picked up her coffee, took a sip, and shook her head repeatedly at Ai Yi: "Young man, I usually approve leave whenever someone comes in, everyone knows it's a tacit understanding—but your file was just entered into the think tank, and you're absent without reason on your first day of probation—"

"The key issue is public opinion."

She glanced around and lowered her voice to Ai, "In just one morning, the whole intern circle is talking about how that newcomer who came in with Wei Sir is not following the rules, which has seriously dampened everyone's enthusiasm. Our HR department is under a lot of pressure too, so the process—still has to go through all the departments?"

"All right----"

Ai snorted, then, realizing that the plan to salvage perfect attendance was likely to fail, added, "I can only give it a try."

"Monitoring Department"

"Monitoring Department?"

The HR lady stared blankly at the think tank screen in front of her, then awkwardly scratched her head: "You—your department doesn't have a full attendance policy either."

"What?!"

Ai felt that her life within the system had just begun when she was plunged into a huge crisis.

As a lazy dog, the only incentive that keeps him going to work every day is perfect attendance. But today he was saddened to discover that his department was isolated by the entire Countermeasures Bureau. Even the most basic resources were ruthlessly withheld as internal benefits for official employees. The "performance points" issued by the higher-ups could be used to exchange for many "special supplies," which were a higher-level equivalent than credit points for the occult scholar.

Without a perfect attendance bonus, the only way to supplement one's personal coffers at the foundation is to personally complete tasks.

"I'm so tired————"

Ai sighed, realizing that it was very likely she would be unable to continue her "great undertaking: taking a paid break from work".

Even though I just got promoted, I can't resist the urge to switch jobs! I have to switch!

She left the personnel department in a huff and walked down the main corridor. Ai was still deep in thought when suddenly her vision went dark, as if the lights were being blocked by something.

He looked up and was startled again: "Sherlock?!"

"You still know to come to work?"

A heavy, cast-iron arm hooked around Ai's neck, making sure the guy was completely under control, and began to twist his ear, clicking his tongue in amazement, "Goodness, I haven't seen you for a morning and you're practically the enemy of all interns—do you know what those guys who graduated at eighteen, interned until they were almost cremated at eighty, and fought tooth and nail to get a permanent position are saying about you?"

"What they say is none of my business—it hurts, it hurts!"

The crows and pigeons that were originally perched on his shoulders squeezed onto his head and watched the show silently. Ai gave up struggling and could only weakly argue, "I was so excited about starting my job last night that I stayed up all night and overslept."

—Sherlock certainly couldn't know about her secret deep-sea dive and the big stunt she pulled off, so Ai decided to play the fool for a while.

"But it's not necessarily those guys' fault," Sherlock said quietly. "It's just that—you're always seen with Inspector Wei, and your name is practically tied to hers. So your current behavior is more or less interfering with the boss's political image."

Having vented his anger, Sherlock released Ai and shrugged, "Normally it's not a big deal, Wei Sir isn't the type to care about such trivial matters—but recently the boss is about to be promoted, and reputation is more important, so you'll have to be a little more careful."

The older man gave him a knowing look and whispered, "Once the boss becomes Minister Wei, won't the two of us be able to run rampant in this Lower City Countermeasures Bureau?"

—Damn, so you were thinking about this kind of thing.

Ai looked at him with disdain, and the two birds returned to their perches on his shoulders, drawing Sherlock's thoughtful gaze.

"How come there's another white one here after just one day?"

He stroked his chin. "Is this fashion or a hobby—"

"Don't interfere with young people's pets."

Ai yawned and changed the subject, "Since things have come to this, let's eat first—"

On her way to the cafeteria, Ai Yi was lost in thought.

Actually, even he himself didn't understand the reason for the new white dove. He asked Little White, and this was the answer he received from the door.

"Isomers? Allotropes? Something like that. These two are currently residing on the original text, and are essentially the same. They are both things you brought out from that heavily anchored history—perhaps with the help of some of the Red Dragon's power? But that doesn't matter."

After a brief "coo-coo-coo" conversation between the door and the two birds, the coo-coo hopped happily on the door's shoulder, and then the door brought more good news.

"The important thing is that Mo Ya is very happy. It seems that the principle of remembrance He holds has been completed. The return of the white dove has allowed Him to regain a part of the lost principle of remembrance, and the criterion of 'exhaustion' is more complete. — Remember to visit the Red Pool when you have time. You have also collected enough nutrients. After it sprouts, He should be happy to help you complete the first stage of tilting."

—Yay!

It feels so good to have a big brother protecting me!

However, in reality, there's an older brother sitting across from me, so I need to spare some energy to deal with him.

There are advantages to becoming a full-time employee, at least the pay is much higher than that of an intern. The first thing you'll experience is the change in the dining standards: perhaps to celebrate Ai's official start (although he was late on the first day), Sherlock offered to "treat him himself" instead of taking him to a free buffet. Instead, he took him to a foundation-run restaurant that only caters to full-time employees.

"What—what is this?"

Looking at the translucent, unknown creature still wriggling on the fork, Ai swallowed hard and muttered, "It looks a bit disgusting."

This thing looks a bit like the "jellyfish skin" he remembered from his past life, but it seems to have been served raw and ready to be eaten, with only a small bowl of dipping sauce on the side.

"Seafood? Never seen that before, have you?"

Sherlock looked a little pained; this meal seemed to have cost him a lot of money.

"There's seafood in the nest?" Ai carefully put the lump of gelatinous substance into her mouth, feeling it bounce around inside, then her eyes lit up. "This is delicious."

"Of course, that's a rare find."

Sherlock glanced at him with a hint of surprise, then said thoughtfully, "You actually know what seafood is—well, you've been with the Foundation for half a month now, you should know something about the era before the Nest, before we entered the Dome, when this world wasn't so—small?"

Sherlock did not know the truth about how Eden sank. As someone who grew up in the nest, he could only glimpse that era belonging to "nature" from those ancient books.

So there wasn't much longing in his tone, just like a person born blind who doesn't understand what colors are.

"A long, long time ago, before the dome was built, there was a region of water in the world besides the land. A vast expanse of water formed what is called the ocean. The thing you are eating now used to live in the ocean."

—The ocean?—

Ai Yi was a little dazed.

For Sherlock, the concept of the ocean might just be a larger "lake," a wider "waterway," but Ai knew that the ocean was not such a small thing, and that a nest certainly could not contain it.

"Where did all this seafood come from?"

"In the pool."

Sherlock picked up another piece of jellyfish skin and explained vaguely, "Using the White Tower as a bridgehead, the Foundation has developed some lost kingdoms in the Great Gift Pool as territories in the invisible world—a large part of which have native life—and there are also oceans, which I've seen, and they are indeed very large—and there are all kinds of fish in them, most of which are delicious."

"You can also raise livestock inside the Grand Gift Pool, although the cost might be a bit high—you'll need an equal amount of secret essence to scoop them out of the pool. But you can still maintain their original texture and flavor. Besides, don't you think this stuff tastes amazing?"

"really."

Ai nodded. After just one bite, he felt his vessel was filled with a secret substance, the effect being like smoking several special cigarettes.

He thought again of the herd of deer he had seen at the White Pagoda—and felt a pang of regret for his earlier thoughts.

It turns out it really is edible.

In that case—in that case!

The upper limit of the quality of life in this world might not be as low as he imagined. Apart from industrial waste, the delicious food from his previous life—perhaps it can still be replicated!

He shook his head.

—Hmm, now I have another reason to work hard and make money.

"The modular farming and biomass production lines in Chaodu are very advanced—we can produce enough food to feed hundreds of millions of people, although most of it cannot guarantee the taste and quality—so sometimes, it is necessary to splurge a little."

"In our line of work, you have to enjoy life all the time."

Sherlock then brought out a plate of raw beef, its red and milky white colors layered together, with marbling as clear as marble. "Grand Prix Special U149 Wagyu, have a good taste—one slice of this stuff is worth a day's wages for me."

Then it's just eating, eating, eating, eating!

The dry rice continued for a while, until even the delicious food couldn't mask Sherlock's increasingly contorted expression. This old man's savings were probably almost gone.

Thank you for your hospitality.

Ai wiped his mouth, still somewhat unsatisfied—sometimes, satisfying one's appetite can be a "driving force," at least his desire to make money was becoming stronger and stronger.

While tapping Bai Gugu's beak, Ai Yi, pondering whether to give the crow and pigeon code names respectively, asked, "Brother, regarding Jin—Budding Sprout, is there anything we need to prepare in particular?"

I originally wanted to ask about the precautions for upgrading, but I changed my mind before I could finish the question—I took a step back and, quite "appropriately," asked Sherlock about the "budding" issue.

Ai knew that if she wanted to make money, she couldn't neglect her own hard requirements. She had been thinking about going to dungeons to farm materials, and although the goal and the process were slightly different, by some twist of fate, the necessary "Sacred Veil" route seemed to be almost complete.

I've even collected three portions of nutrients—everything is ready, and I'm waiting to climb!

"By the way—Sprout, you really should start thinking about the Sprouting Ceremony."

It must have been Virtue who mentioned Ai's situation to him, so Sherlock knew that the fox had obtained the second drop of nourishment and could complete the collection at any time.

He exclaimed, "Looking at it this way, you might not be far from advancing to the next level. You might even become a tilter next year—it's unbelievable. I never thought we could actually find a genius even more freakish than Inspector Wei was back then."

"What do you mean by perverted—" Ai retorted softly, then listened to Sherlock continue.

"Regarding the budding stage—this is the crucial juncture that distinguishes whether a qualified individual is truly capable of ascending to the higher levels of the 'path of ascension,' and it is also a watershed moment—before this, wildly awakened qualified individuals may have gained the qualification to peek into that red pool by chance for various reasons—such as a memorable encounter, an explosive emotion, a sudden adventure, etc."

"but."

Sherlock lit a cigarette, his voice becoming slightly more serious. "However, if they can stabilize their bloodline amidst their ever-expanding desires, steadfastly pursue their faith amidst the countless temptations from the Red Pool, and resist the threat of losing control to avoid death; and then, if their minds have matured and they have gathered enough nourishment, they can face the first real hurdle on their path to ascension: 'Sprouting.'"

After listening to Sherlock's long list of premises, Ai initially thought that "resisting the loss of control" and "collecting nutrients" were already great difficulties. However, the uncle changed his tone and revealed that these seemed insignificant compared to "germination" itself.

He swallowed hard, and unconsciously whispered, "Is Sprout dangerous?"

"It's not dangerous," Sherlock said quietly. "No one will die from a sprout."

—Why then?

Ai tilted her head, while Sherlock snapped his fingers, lighting a cigarette with a spark from his fingertip: "In recent years, due to the painful period of economic downturn, nearly ten thousand new qualified individuals have been added here every year—three to five times more than before. However, only a pitiful few hundred can actually complete the 'Budding Ceremony'—the total number has increased, but the proportion has decreased. The mysterious threshold remains high, and even the luckiest mediocre person will never be able to glimpse its essence."

He sighed softly and continued.

"To complete the germination ceremony, you must plant the seed in your own container—in this process, the nutrients you absorb will become a kind of 'foreign substance,' because they come from the outside world, they are thoughts you have taken from others. They do not belong to your red essence and will be rejected by your soul."

"Then what should we do?" Ai asked absentmindedly.

"You must firmly believe, from the bottom of your heart, that what you understand, whether joy or sorrow, power or authority, is higher than the nourishment you lick, all the way to your three cavities, so grand that it can accommodate the desires of all pursuers, so resolute that it can block the words of all apostates—so that no one can replace your uniqueness, and no one can question your devotion."

Sherlock took a piece of raw meat from the plate, heated it with the heat of the Steelburner until it sizzled and dripped with oil, and then swallowed it in one bite.

"You must devour all the thoughts that flow towards you along the way, and climb the greatness that belongs only to you."

—This is what “climbing” means.

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