Sir! Don't close the net!

Alma paused, her face slightly flushed.

"Don't you have two more of those kinds of people at home...?"

Alma looked around. This was the Sheep Village Logistics Building, the base camp of the black goat cubs. You could call it Li Yili's home, or you could call it the Valkyrie, but you couldn't put the two words together.

Li Yili did not answer, but stared straight at Alma.

After a long silence, Alma couldn't hold back any longer, raising her hands above her head, "Okay, I admit they seem to lack a sense of responsibility—"

“Secretary Alma, Secretary Alma, professional work should naturally be done by professionals,” Li Yili spun her chair and pointed out the window, “Here, in this city, there are talents everywhere who are good at using masks and potions.”

Alma felt a chill run down her spine. This city had no shortage of professionals who could use masks and potions. "But... impersonating Austin and the others means not getting the tickets to use in the lottery. Would anyone really do that?"

Li Yili tilted her head and said, "Secretary Alma, do you think that with my current status, I need a wishing bottle, a wishing machine whose wishes may not come true for who knows how long?"

Alma gasped.

"Did Austin and the others put any wishing bottles in?"

Li Yili turned her chair to face the window, her deep eyes reflecting the bustling street.

“Not a single one. The residents of Instasus only wish for their normal daily lives. To become one of them would mean all their wishes would be fulfilled. And while they are still immersed in the life of fulfilled wishes, they will not become as greedy as Austin and the others are now, because they can be replaced at any time.”

"The experimental site must remain stable, and there should be no uncontrolled disturbances."

Alma opened her mouth. Li Yili's speculation was terrifying, but in this case, it made perfect sense.

“Austin was most likely the first to be replaced, but the person impersonating Austin was probably one of Bishop Azawi’s men.”

"Minister Li Yili... how exactly did you determine that Austin and the others were residents of Instas in disguise?"

Li Yili turned the chair around.

“Secretary Alma, they are the rulers of Instas. They would never be so heartless to you. They would lose their minds for their own sake. I charged in with one slap each and then walked away. This kind of utterly insulting behavior... Do you think Austin and the others can tolerate it?”

Absolutely not. Austin and his group's position in Instas is not one that requires them to remain hidden and in hiding.

“Unless they are other people in disguise,” Alma murmured subconsciously, “but how could they gather so many Instas residents in such a short time?”

Li Yili remained silent, while Alma recalled the previous batch of job applications that didn't involve many young people.

Currently, most Instas are young people who grew up in an education system where all they need to do is use masks and potions, and who have no promising job prospects.

.

Chapter 129 The Biggest Real Estate Developer's Potion

"Bert! Bert!"

As Zieg's shouts grew louder, Bert, who had been holding a spoon and remaining silent like a wax figure, snapped out of his daze and looked at Zieg with an apologetic expression.

"what happened?"

"It's nothing, Bert, you just seem really tired."

Zieg peered over and saw that the soup in the iron pot in front of Bert was bubbling and bubbling, and there was a faint, pungent smell of burning in the air.

"Really? It's alright."

Bert shook his head, extinguished the flame, scooped out the thick soup with a spoon and poured it into a plate, placing it in front of Zieg. He then took a few slices of bread and placed them in the middle of the table. After wiping his hands slightly, Bert sat down opposite Zieg and smiled.

"The same as always. But how's your training going lately?"

As he spoke, Bert put the bread into the thick soup and stirred it.

"It went very smoothly! Minister Li Yili is simply a genius. She designed such an amazing means of transportation as a submarine in just a few days!" Zig's eyes gleamed as he rolled up a piece of bread, poked it into the soup, and spun it vigorously. "Unit 01 is finished, and the testing went very smoothly. It's said that it can head to the surface of the Sea of ​​Dead Men in the next three days!"

“Is that so…?” Bert slowly chewed the bread soaked in the thick soup.

"Minister Li Yili is really amazing! She's a genius! No! Minister Li Yili is a genius!" Zig smiled and took a bite of bread, but the pungent smell immediately hit Zig's nose, making him almost drop the bread in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Bert asked, startled.

Zig clutched the bread, glanced at the half-eaten bread in Bert's hand, then at the sticky soup on his plate, and immediately shook his head. "It's nothing, I just burned my tongue."

After saying that, Zig immediately blew on the thick soup a few times, brushed it with bread, and then stuffed it into his mouth and ate it in big mouthfuls.

“Really? Be careful,” Bert nodded, sinking the bread in his hand into the thick soup. “Actually, the house Mr. Li Yili lives in now is the one I sold to him.”

"Hey—Bert, you're amazing!" Bert's eyes lit up. "Speaking of which, I did hear from the employees of Sheep Village Logistics that you, Minister Li Yili, have a huge house in the Rich District that you could use to host a dance party!"

Bert tightened his grip on the bread and turned his gaze toward the window.

"But actually, the one who was really capable was McCarthy, not me."

“How could that be! Even if you’re wearing a McCarthy mask, the one standing in front of Minister Li Yili and having a conversation with her is still you, Bert—” Zig spread his arms wide.

Bert opened his mouth, but hesitated, making Zig shrink back awkwardly. "I...did I say something wrong?"

“No, it’s nothing, but Sieg… you probably won’t need the mask and potion anymore,” Bert leaned back in his chair, looking at Sieg sitting opposite him, and sighed, “That’s great…”

"Hehehe—I'm pretty amazing, aren't I!"

Bert first crossed his arms and chuckled smugly, then immediately scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed grin.

"However, it was actually thanks to Minister Li Yili's trust and help that Mr. Li Yili was able to go to the sea on his own, even without me."

“Alright, if you understand, then work even harder and don’t let Mr. Li Yili down,” Bert said, placing his hands on the table as he stood up. “I’ll leave the important task of washing the dishes to you. I’m going out to sell some things.”

"Alright—Bert, what are you going to sell?"

Who knows?

Bert smiled and, as he passed by Sieg, patted Sieg on the head.

They're already... this tall.

"Eh……"

Amid Zigg's complaints, Bert pulled up his coat, pushed open the door, and walked along the streets of the much cleaner Maws District. After circling around several times, he arrived at the mask shop in Maws District. The crowded queue made Bert sigh and lower his head to join the end of the line.

Although the Maws district is known as the dumping ground of Instas, for someone like him who was born in the Maws district and hasn't fallen to the level of a defective product, there are a few advantages. First, houses are very cheap. Second, masks and potions of the same quality are much more expensive in the city center, and you have to wait in long lines. It's very common to find out that you need to make an appointment and wait for several days.

With the boost from the wishing bottle, the entire Instas began to accelerate, even the junkyard known as the Morse District started to move like crazy. The few shops in the Morse District that sold potions and masks naturally became the liveliest places in the Morse District.

"Hopefully we won't be unable to buy the potion," Bert muttered, glancing at the swaying heads ahead.

After waiting another twenty minutes, Bert grew increasingly impatient, feeling that the line hadn't moved much forward. He thought he might as well go back. He had spare potions; he had only come to buy them as a precaution. The crowded line in front of him confirmed his ominous premonition. If the next few days were just as crowded, his potion reserves would run out.

After agonizing for a while, Bert sighed deeply, repeatedly telling himself that he couldn't just leave now since he'd already come this far in line, thus calming his anxious heart.

After waiting for nearly twenty more minutes, Bert had almost gotten used to this slow pace.

The sound came from behind him as he was moving at high speed.

“Bert? You're Bert, right—”

Bert paused, looked around, and seemed to recognize the voice.

"Here! Here! Bert is here!"

A hand waved vigorously from within the group towards Bert's direction.

Bert squinted hard and finally made out the face of the person who had called him through the crowded heads.

Bert was utterly bewildered; he remembered the voice but couldn't recall the face.

“It’s me! Big Guy!” Seeing Bert’s blank expression, the man stretched out his hands and waved them vigorously.

Bert suddenly realized what was going on, but he didn't leave the group. "What do you need me for?"

“Ahem—of course it’s something important! Come with me for a moment,” Bige waved to Bert.

“Let me buy the potion first, I’ve been in line for ages,” Bige’s flippant attitude reminded Bert of Nata, whom he didn’t particularly like.

"You... fine."

Forty minutes later, Bert was about to leave with the medicine when Bige, who was still in the group, immediately jumped out, grabbed Bert's arm, and led him into an empty alley. Ignoring Bert's increasingly impatient gaze, Bige peered out of the alley. After confirming that no one was around, Bige breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at Bert, glanced at the medicine in Bert's hand, and then shrugged.

"Bert, why are you still using these potions?"

Is this all you wanted to say to me?

"No, no, no, I was just kidding, just kidding! Actually, I came here to... recruit you!"

Bige smiled mysteriously and opened the bag at his waist, pulling out a vial of medicine with a color Bert had never seen before.

"Guess whose potion this is?"

“Who?” Bert squinted.

"Rich's potion, the biggest real estate developer in India!"

Chapter 130 I am your mistress, not your strategist!

"Do I look like that kind of fool?"

After a brief moment of surprise, Bert smiled and waved his hand, feeling incredibly glad that he had waited in line before considering Bige's decision.

Bert wanted to sneer, but to be honest, what Bige said was too ridiculous, like a child's joke, so he could only put on a bright "Are you an idiot?" smile.

"You don't believe me?" Bige shook the strangely colored potion in his hand from side to side.

“You might as well tell me that the Sea of ​​the Dead is about to drown us,” Bert said, pointing to the sea wall of the Sea of ​​the Dead that stretched to the sky. “They don’t even need masks, so how could they possibly sell their faces?”

Bert unconsciously adopted the term "them." Since Richie's potion, the biggest real estate developer in Instas, had appeared... then the others, Ips and Austin, probably had their masks and potions as well.

“Why not? Selling masks, making masks… it’s not like Richie and his gang,” Bige smiled mysteriously, pinching the potion between his ring and little fingers, slowly pulling a mask from his pouch and unfolding it slowly in front of Bert.

Bert's radiant smile gradually faded, and his pupils became pinholes.

"Bert, do you want to join us?"

Bige smiled mysteriously, but Bert felt a chill run down his spine and took a step back, his face full of vigilance. He could clearly sense that something extremely important had collapsed in Bige's smile.

"Joining the group means..."

“Is there even a question?” Big Guy put away Richie’s mask and pulled out vials of strangely colored potions from his bag. “Of course, we’ll go and fulfill our wishes, become Richie and the others directly. That’s much faster than using wishing bottles.”

Bert instinctively raised his hand, but immediately withdrew it. "That's against Indiana's laws."

Bige immediately stepped forward and spread out the potion in his hand so that Bert could clearly see the name on the potion. "Bert, there is only one rule in Instasus: use masks and potions."

Bert was taken aback. His common sense told him to quickly deny the claim. His life experience told him, as Bige had said, that using masks and potions was the only rule in Instas. Bert then thought of the dejected young man sitting on the bench.

“Big Guy, you didn’t come to me for no reason. Our relationship isn’t that good,” Bert said, letting his hands fall to his sides.

Bige's expression stiffened for a moment before he chuckled awkwardly and looked away. "What are you talking about, Bert... Well, now we can get more masks and potions by recruiting people."