Sir! Don't close the net!

“Damn it—it’s like they’re blessed by the gods,” Valhae Rei’s lips twitched.

"I'm talking to you..."

“Just kidding, just kidding,” Valkyrie’s expression changed, she lay on her side on the sofa with the wine bottle in her arms and yawned lazily. “Don’t overthink it. Li Yili can’t become a chosen one of the gods. In his world, becoming a chosen one of the gods… is no different from going crazy.”

"Is that so?" Valhagi Iris raised an eyebrow, gently shaking the wine bottle from side to side. "By the way, aren't we going to deal with that thing?"

“Anyway, they’re not here to cause me any trouble,” Valkyrie shrugged.

------

“Mr. Promising Future, we now have two options before us,” Li Yili said, helping Nakya to her feet and looking at the train carriage in front of them.

"First, we'll make do in this carriage for the night and wait for rescue, which may come tomorrow or the day after."

"Second, drag this carriage all the way back to Instas."

“That makes sense, so we really have to… wait a minute? Something’s not right with the second option, is it?!” Abel, chin in hand, was about to nod when he realized what was going on, turned to Li Yili and loudly complained, “You mean we have to tow the carriage directly back to Instas?!”

“Hmm, with the power of the chosen one, it shouldn’t be difficult,” Li Yili winked at Abel. “So, Mr. Promising Future, the choice is, will you tow this train car, or will I have Princess Nakya tow it? By the way, Princess Nakya is very enthusiastic.”

Before she finished speaking, Nakya raised her hands and waved them vigorously up and down. If it weren't for the empty and lifeless look in her silvery-white eyes, Abel would have almost believed her.

“Why must we bring this train carriage?” Abel took a deep breath and rolled up his sleeves.

To be honest, he had tried his best to accept that Li Yili was using Nakya as a means of transportation. He really couldn't accept that Li Yili was using Nakya's body to pull the train carriage, even though it wasn't a difficult thing for Nakya.

“We can’t just leave all this stuff here,” Li Yili said, tilting her head and resting her chin on her hand. “Taking it back to the train station can prevent the owners of the luggage from suffering financial losses. What do you think of that reason, Mr. Future Promising?”

"OK--"

Abel, who was already standing in front of the carriage, waved his arms up and down and then nodded to Li Yili, "Go on."

Li Yili was somewhat surprised. Although he knew from the beginning that Abel would agree to this, he did not expect Abel to be so proactive.

“Anyway, he’ll definitely agree in the end—” Abel’s lips twitched.

"Hey, hey, hey—what kind of lines are those from a corrupted female protagonist?"

Li Yili grumbled and jumped onto the train carriage with Nakya in her arms.

"By the way, is it possible to get to Instas before dawn? I've never tried a real night raid before."

Abel took a deep breath and turned his head with difficulty. "Do you know how far this place is from Instas?"

Li Yili pushed open the car door, facing Abel, and sat on the door frame with Nakya in her arms, giving Abel a bright smile.

I'll cheer you on!

Chapter 100 Differences

As the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window, Zig, who was lying in bed, got up, tidied his clothes, and went downstairs.

Finding walking down the stairs too slow, Zieg simply leaped onto the handrail and slid down, landing gracefully as he waved to Bert, who was making breakfast.

Good morning, Bert!

“Good morning, Zieg, you look great—you’re in good spirits,” Bert said, unable to resist yawning as he turned and picked up the frying pan, swishing the fried egg on the bread.

“Bert, you look sleepy,” Zieg said energetically, pulling out a chair and staring at the bread with shining eyes.

"That's because..."

Bert opened his mouth unconsciously, the fatigue of the past few days gathering in his mind.

It did happen in Instas

As things changed, everyone started living actively in their own way, but the lifestyle itself didn't change at all, and in some ways it even became more complicated.

They apply for jobs using their own appearance, but companies require them to specify the time they wear the mask on their resumes, as well as records of mask purchases. This is because they themselves are not good at anything and have no work experience of their own, only experience as McCarthy or Joshua. When working with those old friends, they still subconsciously wear masks to ensure that there will be no problems at work.

Previously, companies didn't care about user experience because they didn't even care who came to work. Now they do, and they give priority to hiring people with years of experience using masks. Some even set a minimum requirement of a certain number of years of experience using masks from the outset.

Young people like him are destined to only pick up scraps left over from the mouths of the elderly, or voluntarily give up their due benefits. In fact, in the past few days he has encountered many problems that only Bert would encounter. Too many changes and unpredictable accidents have left him extremely tired and unable to sleep.

Looking into Zieg's pure eyes, filled with boundless longing for the future, Bert raised his hand, waved, and turned to crack open the second egg.

"Maybe it's because I'm getting old."

“Really? Bert…we’re only about three years apart, aren’t we?” Zig said, picking up his noodles.

"Really? Is that all?" Bert's shoulders slumped slightly before straightening up again. "If you don't mind, you can teach me how to be as energetic as you."

“Well…” Zieg tilted his head and said matter-of-factly, “Of course, it’s because it’s a very happy thing to work hard for your own wishes. Every day I go to sleep with the feeling that I will work very hard today, and I wake up with the feeling that I will work even harder today.”

"Click—"

Looking at the eggshell fragments in the frying pan, Bert exhaled and, as if he hadn't seen them, gently shook the pan, letting the egg mixture coat the fragments in circles. Soon, the eggshell fragments looked exactly like the one Zieg was eating. Bert then flipped the pan and slid the fried egg onto the bread, pulled out a chair and sat opposite Bert, picked up the bread and shrugged helplessly.

"That sounds difficult."

"Huh? Really?" Zig took a bite of fried egg and bread together, chewing as he mumbled, "Bert, you're so good, you should have it easier than me."

“Hahaha—you think too highly of me,” Bert said, chewing on a fried egg with shell mixed in, listening to the crisp cracking sound, and shaking his head with a smile. “You are luckier than me…you are more hardworking and more talented than me.”

"but--"

“Alright, hurry up and eat. It’s rare for someone to give you a chance to be late,” Bert said before Zieg could finish, standing up and clapping his hands. “Being on time isn’t enough. You should be early. You shouldn’t be enjoying it; you should be showing respect and gratitude.”

"Oh oh oh-"

Zieg nodded vigorously, swallowed the fried egg and bread in a few bites, got up and left the house one after the other with Zieg. Bert, who was in charge of closing the door, made way for Zieg, who was stretching in the sun, and locked the door behind him.

"Let's go..."

"Ah."

Zig walked towards the Sheep Village Logistics Building with his arms outstretched and cheering, while Bert took a deep look at Zig's departing figure, turned around, opened his backpack, pulled out a stack of resumes, and went to look for a job like every young person in Instas who had received the education that "as long as you have a mask, everything will be fine".

"Hello, I am Bert Slow."

"Hello, I am Bert Slow."

"Hello, I am Bert Slow."

He went to one interview after another, repeating the process over and over again, but all Bert ever received was the same: "We will consider your application, and if you pass, we will send you a letter."

Bert knew that the interviewers hadn't paid attention to his self-introduction. The moment they saw his age, he was placed in the queue to be considered if they didn't receive any applications from those with extensive experience using masks within the next couple of days.

Large companies are one thing, but small companies also naturally demand those with extensive experience in using masks, yet they offer lower salaries than those large companies. Bert didn't quite understand what the other party meant, but he felt inferior during his conversation with the interviewer, thinking that the low salary was normal and that if he didn't want it, plenty of others would.

After spending the whole morning searching, all my resumes were categorized as backup options, and I couldn't find a single stable job.

Bert found a bench and sat down, gazing at the receding sales center before letting out a long sigh. Coincidentally, the young man sitting at the other end of the bench also sighed.

The young man raised his hand and nodded in the direction of the sales center. "I used to work there, but now I don't even qualify for the first round of interviews."

“Me too, but I didn’t send out my resume because I knew it would just end up in the trash,” Bert smiled bitterly. “Since it was going to end up in the trash anyway, I chose some places that at least wouldn’t be thrown in the trash immediately.”

"And then?" The young man lowered his head.

"It'll probably be thrown in the trash soon. Today I can only think about doing temporary jobs," Bert said, tilting his head back and letting out a long sigh.

"That's strange... I clearly didn't leave..."

"This isn't the kind of education we receive from birth to adulthood," the young man said, raising his hand to cover his face.

"Don't worry about anything else, just wear the mask. As long as you can use the mask, that's enough. They say everything is fair, but what is this? Once we're all trapped and can't escape, they'll change their minds and just belittle us at will?"

Seeing that the young man was in a bad mood, Bert raised his hand, but didn't know how to persuade him, because he felt the same way, but he had his reasons for having to cheer up.

Chapter 101 He is... one of ours?

"They're all older people..."

After flipping through the job applications, Alma looked up and glanced at the people in charge of today's interviews, finally fixing her gaze on Heman with a somewhat subtle expression.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Heman blinked. "In this kind of situation, you usually choose someone with extensive work experience, right?"

“It’s like this…” Alma pinched the bridge of her nose, thought for a while, and then tentatively asked, “Aren’t there… any young people?”

“Uh…yes? What’s wrong?” Heman raised an eyebrow. “Secretary Alma, can’t you just say what’s wrong with you?”

“It’s less of a problem and more of a discussion,” Alma gestured before leaning back in her chair. “Should we give the young people of Instass more…opportunities?”

Alma wasn't sure if her statement was accurate, because according to the Instas lifestyle, the one thing everyone here had in abundance was opportunity.

“Don’t they have a lot of opportunities?” Heman pointed to his face. “With those magical masks, they don’t even need to learn any knowledge or practice. They can immediately work as the best salesperson, the best architect, and so on.”

Alma felt a jolt in her heart, instinctively stood up, raised her hand and opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

She must have realized a serious problem, but she lacked certain keywords and ideas, so she couldn't voice her ominous premonition.

"Secretary Alma, what are you worried about? There won't be any problems."

"That's right. Since Minister Li Yili is confident in entrusting things to us, it means that she has already arranged everything."

"That's right—"

Looking at the several Yunzhong executives holding hands in front of her, Alma felt a chill run down her spine. "Do you know what Minister Li Yili's purpose is? Look at him now, does he seem like he wants to build an underwater amusement park? Does he have any inclination to build a temple?"

Faced with Alma's question, He-Man and the others froze on the spot, which made Alma somewhat gratified. She thought to herself that he wasn't too slow-witted, but the next second He-Man's question made Alma fall silent.

“But we’ve only been in Instas for less than a month. These kinds of big projects are usually calculated in years.”

Oh right—

Although Instars looks like it was completely demolished and rebuilt immediately, Yangcun Logistics has only been in Instars for less than a month!

Alma covered her forehead.

“Now, apart from Austin, most of the companies have surrendered to us, indicating that they can accept a lower percentage of their bills than Sheep Village Logistics and Fire Elf, just asking that it not be too low,” Heman spread his hands. “The minister said that the process of allowing bills to participate in a lottery is called… listing.”

"As expected of Minister Li Yili, she has mastered the entire Instas market with just a few formulas."

"It's just—"

Alma glanced at the Cloud Clan executives in front of her with a complicated expression, then sat back down and rubbed her forehead vigorously.

Li Yili's formulas did play a significant role in this process, but fundamentally, these formulas had nothing to do with the market. It was Li Yili who made these formulas a catalyst for the market. If it were the other Yunzhong members in front of her, she would definitely not have been able to do the same thing. Moreover, this process required a large amount of capital injection to drive it.

Courage, forward-thinking, and sufficient capital—these three factors combined allowed Li Yili to completely control the Instars market. However, on the surface, it seemed that Li Yili had only written a few formulas.

"Now every penny spent by all the residents of Instas is in the hands of Minister Li Yili. Even something as simple as building an underwater temple is just a matter of a word."

Alma sighed deeply, "Yes... every single expense..."

Alma was startled, and slowly opened her eyes wide.